In search of a Dugong in the Red Sea.

I recently got back to the UK from a great trip to Marsa Alam on Egypt's South Eastern Red sea coast.
What took me to this part of the world are the pristine coral reefs and great diversity of marine life that live in the waters of the red sea.

I have made several trips out to the red sea in the last few year to snorkel and scuba dive and have had some amazing encounters with marine life there from big sharks to tiny Nudibranchs. One of the creatures I had never had the good fortune to see, and was high on my list of targets, was the Dugong.

The dugong, also known at the sea cow, is a rather unusual creature. It is the only marine mammal that is entirely herbivores. There closest living relatives are the Manatees of which there are three species that live in both fresh and salt water. They are all part of Afrotheria, a strange group of animals with include the elephants, aardvarks and hyrax.

(Dyson the Dugong, the first dugong I have had the pleasure to meet! :) )

During my research into the Dugong I came across a story that filled me with a profound sense of sadness. Back in 1741 sailors travelling across the Bering Sea in the cold north discovered strange creatures living off the Commander Islands. These creatures became known as the Stellar's sea cows and their closest relatives where the Dugongs. Unlike the dugong the Stellar's sea cow was a real giant weighing in at up to 10 tones and up to 9 meters long. These guys lived on the Kelp forest that grew in these waters and were so large they were incapable of diving below the surface. The meat hungry sailors who discovered the sea cows found they were easy to hunt and tasted good. This combined with their peaceful and curious nature, their size and inability to dive effectively signed their death warrant. In the space 27 year the Stellar's sea cow was hunted into extinction!

On this trip I was determined to find and photograph a dugong. Marsa Alam is known as one of the best places to see dugongs and so I did some research. In the 1980's research suggested there where around 4000 Dugongs in the red sea and since then is suspected that the population has reduced due to the dugongs vulnerability to human exploitation and disturbance. It seemed that several spots along the coast near Marsa Alam where well known for Dugong sightings including one bay called Marsa Mubarak just a few kilometre away from the hotel I would be staying at in Port Galib. It seemed that it was always the same Dugong seen in Marsa Mubarak who had been given the name Dyson due to the way dugongs feed by hovering up the rhizomes of the sea grass.

I had six full days in Egypt and planned to do as much diving and snorkelling as I could. We dived in Marsa Mubarak on the first day and spent our second dive on the sea grass beds where I eagerly looked out for a silhouette passing above or a cloud of sand that might show where a dugong was feeding but no sightings.
I had a talk with the staff at Emperor divers and asked them how to maximise my chances of seeing one. They said my best bet would be to get up early and head down to Marsa Mubarak and wait for the snorkelling boats to turn up. The guides of the zodiacs would then scour the bay looking for Dyson and if all the boats gathered together it would probably mean they had found him. I asked realistically what my chances where of seeing him and they said it was probably pretty low but certainly worth a shot.

So on my fourth day in Egypt I got up early and headed out across a short stretch of desert to Marsa Mubarak. Once there I had a little wait before the zodiacs started heading out with their snorkelers. After a short while the zodiacs turned up and began to scour the bay.

(Marsa Mubarak South)

(Marsa Mubarak North)

It wasn't long before two of the boats found something not far from shore. I was eager to get in the water so I got my snorkelling kit on set up my camera set up and went to see what they had found. When I got out to them I discovered it was a large green turtle they had found, one of the biggest I have ever seen.

(The big Green Turtle grazing on the sea grass)

The old turtle was very relaxed around all the snorkelers and happily let me get up close to him. After a few pleasant minutes with the turtle I left it with the snorkelers and headed off on my own to see what I could find. I did a big loop of the southern section of the bay without finding much. I came across the big turtle again and the snorkelling boats came to see what I had found and dropped some more snorkelers in to see it. I then headed out into deeper water and the larger sea grass beds in the north east section of the bay. Here I started to see more life. I saw a couple of giant trevally, a very skittish hawksbill turtle and a large Yellowmargin Triggerfish.

(A Yellowmargin Triggerfish cruises along the bottom)

I then discovered a area where a dugong had clearly been feeding as you could see the trails of clear sand meandering through the sea grass.

(Dugong trails in the sea grass)

I was in one of these patched when I desided to do a deep dive and see what was about and just a I was coming back up for air I saw a Dugong coming towards me out of the blue!

(The Dugong emerging from the blue!)

It was a truly stunning sight to see. He came in slowly and stately accompanied my five large remoras of different colours. I was worried he would be nervous but he swam right up towards me and the let we swim right alongside him nearly close enough to touch.

(The Dugong's remora escort)

He was relaxed and calm and seemed curious turning towards me several times to take a closer look at me and regularly rising up to the surface to take a breath of air. He must have been about 2 meters long and weighed around 300kg and his skin was covered with scars, folds of skin and little stubbly hairs. His tiny beady eyes gave him a funny squinting look and he seemed to have a constant smile on his face that made him look simple and endearing.

We spent about 10 magical minute’s together before the snorkelling zodiacs saw that I was with something. Once they came over Dyson became nervous, probably because of the engine sounds. As the boats arrived dozens of inept snorkelers threw themselves into the water and Dyson took off at a speed that surprised me. I tried to keep up with him and in a short space of time it was just me and one of the snorkelling guides still with him but he still going fast. I then noticed one of the zodiacs heading ahead to intercept him and Dyson changing his course to avoid it and I felt a sudden anger for the boats chasing this peaceful creature and guilt at being part of the chase myself. I let up and let him escape. I hoped he might circle back to feeding spot we had been at before the boats turned up but I did not see him again.

I enjoyed the rest of my snorkel and visited the beautiful reef and the north eastern tip bay and spent some time with a little shoal of squid before heading back to the beach in search of food and water.

It was amazing seeing the dugong and a great pleasure to spend some time with him but I had mixed feeling about the snorkelling boats. I hate to see wild animals being stressed by people but I also know the importance of wildlife encounters for people both economical and conservational. Those people on the boats had probably spent a lot of money to go on a trip with a chance to see a Dugong. That money makes the dugongs a resource worth conserving and helps raise the profile of a species of venerable creatures. I later talked about this experience with my dive guided and they assured me the dugongs are usually quite relaxed around the snorkelling boats.

I am now back in the UK with happy memories of my trip. I look forward to returning to the red sea in the not too distant future for more oceanic encounters and, fingers crossed, the pleasant company of a dugong once more! :)