It is also known as Sea Cow, which is close related to the manatee but it is more closely related to an elephant. The Dugong, the National marine mammal of Papua New Guinea, Dugong , which can be seen in warm coastal waters of Red Sea, East Africa, Australia, Japan and Philippines and in other countries in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
Moreover, they can live in fresh, brackish, and saline water. It is very much popular to the Papua New Guinea’s people and therefore designated as the national marine mammal of Papua New Guinea.
The National marine mammal of Papua New Guinea, the Dugongs frequently swim alone or in pairs. Dugongs are a social mammal species and are seen in groups anecdotal from 2 to 200 individuals but sea grass beds cannot support large groups of dugongs for extended periods of time. Smaller groups usually consist only with mother and calf pair. They may migrate long distances in order to find a specific sea grass bed, but they may also inhabit a single range for most of their life.
Dugongs are a semi-nomadic species. Itinerant is driven by the quantity and quality of their primary food source, sea grass, they move on to the next sea grass bed if the running bed is exhausted. Therefore the communication system is very important among individuals. They have two primary methods of communication being uses which are sound and vision. Dugongs use chirps, whistles, barks and other sounds that echo underwater in order to communicate. Every sound has own amplitude and frequency that differentiates the signal of which implies its probable purpose.
Papua New Guinea’s National marine mammal, the Dugongs are called bulls of its male while the females are called cows. There are more than a dozen bulls followed a cow during mating time. The group of bulls is called a mating herd. If the male has mated, he has not taken any part in the caring of young.
The female Dugong is pregnant for about 12 months. They give birth of a single calf, which occurs in under water. The mother helps the calf get to the water's surface for breathing, and within the hour the calf will be able to swim on its own. Male dugong will develop tusks during puberty, at age between 12 and 15 years. Females usually do not have visible tusks.