Trivia question for Jun-02-2011

Olivia thinks these guys are special and she wants everyone to learn about them so she decided to feature them in today’s trivia.  These guys are exclusively aquatic mammals that cruises through tropical and subtropical coastal waters.

Entanglement in fishing nets has caused many deaths, although there are no precise statistics. Most issues with industrial fishing occur in deeper waters where dugong populations are low, with local fishing being the main risk in shallower waters. As these guys cannot stay underwater for a very long period, they are highly prone to deaths due to entanglement. The use of shark nets has historically caused large numbers of deaths, and they have been eliminated in most areas and replaced with baited hooks. Hunting has historically been a problem too, although in most areas they are no longer hunted, with the exception of certain indigenous communities. In areas such as northern Australia, hunting remains the greatest impact on their population.

So here are Olivia’s questions:  Tell us what this animal is called and also tell us what is special about their eyelids.  The giant version of these guys once roamed in the Bearing Sea until it was discovered and hunted to extinction.  Tell us how many years did it take use to kill all of them from this part of the world?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to Brittany Whitfield for being the first to answer all our questions correctly. Many of you wrote in thinking we were featuring a Manatee but in-fact we featured their cousin the Dugong.

The dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. It is also the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of at least 37 countries throughout the Indo-Pacific, though the majority of dugongs live in the northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay. The dugong is the only strictly-marine herbivorous mammal, as all species of manatee utilise fresh water to some degree.

Their eyelids have glands that produce an oily secretion to protect against the abrasive effects of particles in the water. The giant sea cows were hunted to extinction within 27 years from first discovery.  Here is more on these gentle giants: Dugong

Thanks for playing along 😉