A recent study has concluded that the dugong, a marine mammal commonly known as the sea cow, is now “functionally extinct” in China’s coastal waters.
The study by the UK’s National Academy of Sciences was conducted through large-scale interview surveys in the fishing communities along the four Chinese coastal provinces—Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian. The researchers also collected all available historical dugong records on the dugong in China for analysis.
The research article was published in the peer-reviewed science journal Royal Society Open Science on Aug. 24. It suggests that out of the 788 professional fishermen surveyed, only five percent, or 37 fishermen, reported sightings of dugongs. Furthermore, only three of the sightings occurred within the past five years, and the average last-sighting date was 23 years ago….