Dugongs occur in tropical and subtropical waters around the
world. Dugongs are large grey mammals which spend their entire
lives in the sea. Fully grown, they may be three metres long and
weigh 400 kilograms. Dugongs swim by moving their broad whale-
like tail in an up and down motion, and by use of their two
flippers. They come to the surface to breathe through nostrils
near the top of their snouts. Dugongs' only hairs are the
bristles near the mouth. Dugongs are subject to a range of human
threats throughout their global distribution, including
entanglement in shark nets for bather protection, entanglement
in fishing nets (e.g. mesh and gill nets), entanglement in
marine debris (see the Threat Abatement Plan for the impacts of
marine debris on vertebrate marine life), loss and degradation
of important habitat such as seagrass meadows, unsustainable
traditional use and collisions with boats (also known as boat
strikes). Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999 In Australia, dugongs are pr