Friday, March 1, 2013

Funny Dugong Picturea


Dugong The dugong is a large marine mammal found in the warm waters surrounding Indonesia and Australia. Although the dugong can be found widely throughout the Indo-Pacific tropics, the highest population of the dugong is concentrated around northern Australia. Although the dugong looks extremely similar to a manatee, the two are different species. The dugong and the manatee are very closely related and can look almost identical until you look at their tail. The tail of the dugong is typically forked like the tail of a shark, where the tail of the manatee is broad and flat, and slightly more flipper looking than fin looking.

Dugongs are smaller than manatees with the average adult dugong reaching lengths of around 3 meters and weigh nearly 400 kg, which is about the same as a large cow. The front flippers of the dugong can be as much as half a meter in length. It is thought the legends of mermaids may have originated when sailors from a distance glimpsed dugongs swimming in the water, and mistook them for half-human half-fish creatures. These mermaid legends are also said to be true of the dugongs larger cousin, the manatee.

 Funny Dugong
 Funny Dugong
 Funny Dugong
 Funny Dugong
 Funny Dugong
 Funny Dugong
Funny Dugong