Wednesday, February 5, a tour guide spotted a dugong floating by Dolphin Pacific that was confirmed dead when found.
An initial report says Koror State Rangers received a call to check the dead dugong. When Rangers arrived at Dolphin Pacific, they took the dugong to Marine Law for further inspection of the cause of death.
Brenda Santos, a lieutenant at Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection informed the media that research speculated that the dugong may have been feeding on the seagrass near the seabed and startled a stingray hiding under the sand. This speculation was confirmed by Dr. Sayaka Suzuki, a veterinarian who did an autopsy and found that the dugong was female and must’ve died at least 12 hours before it was found.
At the autopsy, they found stingray venom in the abdomen of the dugong. The stings are about 3 inches and were probably too much for the dugong to bear causing its death. The cause of the death of the dugong is confirmed to be poison from the stingray attack. (Kerdeu Uong)