NAHA, May 03 (News On Japan) –
A dugong, a nationally protected species feared to be prone to extinction, was noticed swimming off the coast of Kume Island in Okinawa Prefecture in April. This marks the primary confirmed sighting of a dugong in Okinawa since 2019.
The footage was taken on April twenty ninth at a diving website southwest of Kume Island. A diver will be seen pointing in astonishment because the marine mammal glides peacefully via the water. The dugong is estimated to measure over two meters in size.
Kaji Harumi, a diving teacher who captured the footage, recalled the second with pleasure, saying it was the primary time in her 20 years of diving that she had seen a dugong and that the encounter felt “unbelievable.”
Kaji from Kumejima Diving Center SHIRAHAMA mentioned: “I never thought I’d ever meet such a creature through diving, so this became an unforgettable, irreplaceable dive and a truly valuable experience.”
Dugongs, that are designated as a nationwide pure monument, are recognized to graze on seagrass beds in waters round Okinawa’s foremost island and the Sakishima Islands. Evidence of feeding has been present in these areas previously.
Hiroyuki Ozawa, director of the Okinawa Prefectural Institute of Environmental Science and a dugong skilled, confirmed the animal as a dugong based mostly on the form of its head and tail and the absence of a dorsal fin. He added that based mostly on the physique’s scars and different options, it’s possible the identical person who was captured in Taiwan in April and later launched into the ocean.
The final dugong confirmed in Okinawa was discovered useless in Nakijin Village in 2019. The Okinawa authorities is now contemplating conducting a survey to analyze dugong habitation round Kume Island.
Source: 沖縄ニュースOTV