General News
30 August, 2024
Healthy dugong numbers
A NEW report from James Cook University’s TropWATER reveals a thriving dugong population in Far North Queensland – stretching from Cape York to Mission Beach – in stark contrast to concerning dugong numbers in southern Queensland.
The survey results show the Far North is home to about 7000 dugongs, almost double the number reported in central and southern Queensland.
Lead dugong researcher TropWATER’s Dr Chris Cleguer said it was encouraging to see dugong numbers and their calves stable in the Far North.
He said over 17 years the dugong population in the Far North had grown by about 2 per cent per year, indicating that the dugongs in this region were in good condition.
“Our results show dugong populations in the Far North are thriving overall. This is great news, and we hope this trend will continue in future monitoring surveys,” Dr Cleguer said.
“This trend is notably different from what we observed in our last surveys in central Queensland and the southern section of the Great Barrier Reef – especially the concerning numbers from the Whitsundays to Bundaberg.”
Dr Cleguer said healthy seagrass meadows were essential for dugong survival.
