GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 03 November) – More sea cows or dugongs (Dugong dugon) have been found thriving in Sarangani Bay, boosting the expanded conservation and protection initiatives in the protected seascape.
Joy Ologuin, Protected Area Superintendent of the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape (SBPS), said the latest sightings of dugongs in the seas off Glan town, Sarangani province on Oct. 25 shows that preservation efforts by local government and environment stakeholders are “actually making a difference.”
At least three sea cows were spotted off Barangay Gumasa in Glan during the quarterly seaborne survey spearheaded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Region 12.
A lone dugong was sighted by the marine mammal monitoring team using a drone camera near the Seascape Beach Resort, while a mother-calf dugong pair was documented swimming off Morales Beach Resort, both in Gumasa.
“Seeing healthy sea cows in Sarangani Bay gives (us) hope and the gentle giant sea mammals’ presence in the protected seascape reminds us that our efforts are not futile,” Ologuin said in a statement.
Gary Cabinta, SBPS ecosystems management specialist, noted that dugongs can be seen rarely in Sarangani Bay since they tend to avoid human contact.
“Dugongs graze on seagrass and we might find them if we search their feeding grounds,” he said.
Dr. Roy Mejorada, SBPS in-house veterinarian, observed during the monitoring that the “mother dugong seemed relaxed while its calf was more active and playful.”
DENR-SBPS had documented a number of sightings of dugongs within Sarangani Bay in the past several years, with the largest herds comprising five and six dugongs separately documented in March and September last year, respectively.
In 2018, the SBPS Protected Area Management Board officially declared dugong as the flagship species of SBPS to enjoin coastal communities in supporting the protection and conservation in the Sarangani Bay.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List lists dugong as vulnerable, and its trade has been banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Hundreds of marine mammals have already been spotted by environment workers in parts of the 215,950-hectare Sarangani Bay, the only declared protected seascape in Region 12.
On Oct. 13, a team from DENR Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office-Sarangani and SBPS-Protected Area Management Office documented 10 Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) and 40 to 50 Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in various spots off Sarangani Bay. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)
