The cute sea cow
We are in Marsa Alam Friendly Fins, in one of the most beautiful and special bays on the Planet: Abu Dabbab Bay, home to one of the most mysterious and friendly animals on Earth: the dugong.
How do we recognize it?
It is an animal that needs no introduction because it is unique in its kind, let's get to know it better:
It is a marine mammal, of the order of sirenians, being a mammal it needs to return to the surface to breathe, approximately every 2 or 3 minutes of apnea.
“It only takes me a few seconds to catch my breath with my big nose”
It is large in size: 3 m x 500 kg approximately and can live on average up to 70 years.
“I'm all awkwardness and cuteness!”
It has a very light colour tending towards grey, so it is absolutely evident when it is on the surface.
“I also have my companions, the remoras, which make my position even more evident since, being whitish, they reflect the sunlight."
The body is slender with a beautiful mermaid tail that it uses to move gracefully in the water.
“This is the main difference between me and my cousin the manatee”
It prefers shallow, calm waters, sheltered from predators such as sharks and killer whales.
Tell me what you eat and I'll know where to find you
The dugong is a strictly vegetarian mammal, it feeds on algae and marine plants found in the bay of Abu Dabbab. It is a big eater and in fact spends much of its time feeding, managing to eat up to 20 kg of algae a day.
If you look carefully, we will surely notice this cute snout with large lips with the function of tearing the algae easily. In addition, its pectoral fins also help it to collect its lunch!
Great companions for eating are the green turtles, they also live in the bay of Abu Dabbab and they love seaweed just like our friends. It is not at all difficult to meet them while feasting or while they come up to breathe.
The sighting of the dugong
Spotting animals in nature is serious work! It takes a lot of patience and perseverance, because obviously it's not like going to the aquarium or the zoo, luckily.
Spotting the dugong means looking for it in its natural environment, that is, a bay of a few km2 with variable depths, waves, light reflections, and a huge amount of green turtles that come back to the surface to breathe and often deceive us!
There is a big difference between males and females regarding shyness: females are much more shy and run away quickly when they sense our presence, not to mention when they have a baby, you have to be super gentle with them!
Males, on the other hand, are more bold and don't care too much about us, both while they eat and while they swim, but let's not forget Friendly Fins that in any case our approach must be exemplary!
The sighting involves first identifying it from the boat as it comes back to the surface to breathe and then possibly snorkeling with it or observing it while it is busy eating on the “grassy” seabed.
So far everything seems simple but I assure you it is not! The modest number of dugongs in the bay complicates things quite a bit!
Our experience
We too decided to dedicate our vacation to the sighting of this mysterious animal, so on Thursday morning at 11 we set off with two nice fast dinghies in search of it. The sea was quite rough, and the sunlight was reflecting between one wave and another, making it difficult to recognize some “giant white spot” in the blue background. After an hour of searching, the enthusiasm of some of my travel companions was waning, so one dinghy decided to go snorkeling in the coral reef and the other to continue the search.
You always have to have a plan B!
My work in Nosy Be with sighting of humpback whales and whale sharks, taught me a lot about the sea: the first rule is to always believe until the end, without lowering your guard and above all keeping the morale of the group high! Positivity is essential to continue looking for it with the hope of being able to find it and so it was also for this time.
The sea always gives us great emotions for those who have the patience to wait.
And so after two hours of searching and thanks to the determination and excellent eyesight of the guide, there it is! A nice big male is right on the surface in front of us! Beautiful and giant! I didn't expect it to be so big!
Get ready for snorkeling!
Snorkeling with the dugong
Whatever sighting is made in Nature, the watchword is CALM, whether it is a turtle, a shark, a dolphin or a dugong, they perceive the vibrations of the water and our movements. The more delicate we are towards them, the more we will be able to enjoy unforgettable moments together.
The secret of perfect snorkeling is to avoid bomb dives and enter the water delicately, moving slowly, with fluid movements of the fins and without making too much noise by hitting them on the surface, in this way the animals will not feel threatened and will not run away!
We were very lucky to snorkel with a very calm dugong specimen that let us admire all its beauty and friendliness for more than ten minutes, by all of us.
Even if it is calm, it is a very shy animal, so it is always better not to swim too close to it to give it freedom to maneuver and above all never touch it or cling to it, we could terrify it to death and what's more we would damage its skin by removing a precious protective film that saves it from the attack of algae, fungi and bacteria that could cause serious illnesses.
In front of such a calm specimen, we could have stayed with it for a long time, but respect for animals is also this: knowing how to say enough and not interfere too much with their normal habits...
Mission accomplished!
What can I say, a one-of-a-kind experience, I waited many years to do it and these ten minutes made all the waiting worth it!
But Marsa Alam has also given us other extraordinary surprises! Discover them with us!