Mermaids : Myth or Reality??
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Ever since I saw a pic which claimed to show a real mermaid, half fish and half human.. I got interested in finding more of this mysterious fantasy creature.. however, the pic i saw wasnt a very pretty one, unlike those u see in your old fairy tale books... it had a fish head and human legs...
eeew...
Got this online...
Stories of Mermaids have been told for centuries, be it in the form of folklores, legends or faerietales. Images of this creature have plagued artists and writers in their efforts to bring to life the mystery, beauty, and yes, eroticism of the mermaid to their audiences. The role of mythology is ever changing in our human society and it is with this in mind that the time has come for a stocktake of these mediums to establish the different roles the mermaid has played in human development. . . -
What you will find here is the recorded sightings from fishermen, women, men of standing within the community of mermaids and mermen. Some are quite convincing while others are a trifle vague. Nonetheless they all make good reading, you decide. . .
IN AN ATTEMPT TO FIND A NORTHERN PASSAGE TO THE EAST INDIES Henry Hudson's log reported on June 15, 1608 that two of his company, Thoms Hill and Robert Raynor said that they had seen a mermaid, their descritption read: "From the Navill upward, her backe and breasts were like a womans. . . her skin was very white; and long haire hanging down behinde, of colour blacke; in her going downe they saw her tayle, which was like the tayle of a Porposse, and speckled like a Macrell".
A SCHOOL MASTER OF THURSO IN CAITHNESS, William Munro, wrote in a report in THE TIMES on September 8, 1809 that twelve years earlier he had been walking along Sandside Bay shore when he saw what he first thought was a naked woman, sitting on a rock and combing her light brown hair. The face was plump, with ruddy cheeks and blue eyes. If the rock where the woman sat had not been so dangerous for swimmers, Munro would have assumed it was human. After a few minutes it dropped into the sea and swam away. Others had seen it too. . . Munro's lengthy letter of this descrition read:
'It may be necessary to remark, that previous to the period I beheld this object, I had heard it frequently reported by several persons, and some of them persons whose veracity I have never disputed, that they had seen such a phenomenon as I have described, though then, like many other, I was not disposed to credit their testimony on the subject. I can say of a truth, that it was only by seeing this phenomenon, I was perfectly convinced of its existence.
'If the above narrative can in any degree be subservient towards establishing the existence of a phenomenon hitherto almost incredible to naturalists, or to remove the scepticism of others, who are ready to dispute everything which they cannot fully comprehend, you are welcome to it from,
Dear Sir,
Your most obliged, and most humble servant,
William Munro.'
NEAR THE BULLERS O'BUCHAN, NORTH OF CRUDEN BAY, ON THE COAST OF ABERDEENSHIRE 1870, an old fisherman swore that he had not only seen but conversed with a mermaid beneath the red granite cliffs. It appears that it had been a fairly general belief that the caves on this rocky coast were the homes of mermaids.
THE SCHOOL MASTER OF RATHVEN, BANFFSHIRE, in the ABERDEEN CHRONICLE, April 20, 1814, a report that two fishermen at Portgordon, about a mile west of Buckie, whose character he was able to vouch for, were returning from fishing in Sprey Bay; 'about three or four o'clock yesterday afternoon, when about a quater of a mile from the shore, the sea being perfectly calm, they observed, at a small distance from their boat, with its back turned towards them, and half its body above the water, a creature of a tawny colour, appearing like a man sitting, with his body half bent. Surprised at this they approached towards him, till they came within a few yards, when the noise made by the boat occasioned the ceature to turn about, which gave the men a better opportunity of observing him. His countenance was swarthy, his hair short and curled, of a colour between a green and a grey: he had small eyes, a flat nose, his mouth was large, and his arms of an extraordinary length. Above the waist, he was shaped like a man, but as the water was clear my informants could perceive that from the waist downwards, his body tapered considerably or, as they expressed it, like a large fish without scales but could not see the extemity.' But this was not the end of their encounter for he dived and surfaced some distance away and was not alone. With him was what appeared to be a female of his species for she had breasts and hair that reached past her shoulders. The two men then rowed as fast as they could to land where they related their story to the school master.
CAMPBELTOWN, JOHN M'ISAAC, A FARMER, October 29, 1811, made a sworn statement to the Sheriff-substitute and the parish minister that he had met a mermaid in Campbeltown. The description he gave ran for more than five hundred words and was so convincing that Rev. Dr. George Robertson, Rev. Norman MacLeod, and James Maxwell, Esq., Chamberlain of Mull wrote that they were, 'satisfied that he was impressed with a perfect belief, that the appearance of the animal he has described was such as he has represented it to be.'
EXMOUTH, August 11, 1812, a Mr Toupin reported that not only had he seen a mermaid but he had heard her sing wild melodies, similer to the sound of an Aeolian harp.
THE ISLAND OF BENBECULA IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES, about 1830, women cutting seaweed reported they had met a creature of female form playing happily off the shore. A few days later her dead body was found two miles from where she had first been seen. The description of the creature was recorded thus, 'the upper part of the creature was about the size of a well-fed chid of three or four years of age, with an abnormally developed breast. The hair was long, dark and glossy. while the skin was white, soft and tender. The lower part of the body was like a salmon, but without scales.'
OFF THE ISLE OF YELL, 1833, six fishermen reported that their fishing line had become entangled with a mermaid. They said they had kept her on board their boat for three hours, and said that she was about three feet long. She 'offered no resistance nor attempted to bite,' but she moaned piteously. 'A few stiff bristles were on top of the head, extending down to the shoulder, and these she could erect and depress at pleasure, something like a crest.' She had neither gill nor fins and there were no scales on her body. The fishermen who were very superstitious threw her overboard eventually and said that she dived 'in a perpendicular direction.'
The story was heard from the skipper by a Mr Edmondson who in turn told the Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh:
'Not one of the six men dreamed of a doubt of its being a mermaid, and it could not be suggested that they were infulenced by their fears, for the mermaid is not an object of terror to fishermen, it is rather a wecome guest, and danger is apprehended from its experiencing bad treatment. . . . The usual resources of scepticism that the seals and other sea-animals appearing under certain circumstances operating upon an excited imagination and so producing ocular illusion, cannot avail here. It is quite impossible that six Shetland fishermen could commit such a mistake.'
OFF THE COAST OF BRITAIN, June 4, 1857, SHIPPING GAZETTE, reported Scotish seaman had spotted a creature, 'in the shape of a woman with full breast, dark complexion, and comely face.
ISLE OF MAN, date not given but it is reported that one crew affirmed they had found a mermaid in their herring drift-net. 'On examining their captive, by the largeness of her breasts and the beauty of her compexion, it was found to be female, nothing. . . could be more lovely, more exactly formed, in all parts above the waist resembling a complete young woman, but below that, all fish, with fins, and a huge spreading tail.' She was taken ashore but they could not get her to eat or drink and at the end of the third day when 'she began to look very ill with fasting,' they opened the door of the house. She then glided on her tail to the beach and plunged into the sea where she swam away surrounded by many others of her own species.
ON THE ISLAND OF MUCK, 1947, and eighty year old fisherman reported that he had seen a mermaid 'in the sea about twenty yards from the shore, sitting combing her hair on a floating herringbox used to preserve live lobsters. Unfortunately, as soon as the mermaid looked round, she realized that she had been seen, and plunged into the sea. But no questioning could shake the old fisherman's firm conviction: he was adamant that he had seen a mermaid.' -
myth.... ppl mistaking manatees (or sea cows) for mermaid. as to how they can arrive to that mistake is quite beyond me
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Some pics of mermaids... (frm sfogs.com)
Not a very pretty sight if u ask me... -
Lol.. this is interesting....
Mermaid Anatomy
(author's name withheld on request)
Steve's note: Someone tried to solve the age old question, "How do merfolk reproduce?", from an analytical standpoint. Rated PG. Kids, you may want to skip to some Top Ten lists.
Introduction
Mermaids are humans from the waist up, but fishes from the waist down. The boundary between the human area and fish area happens in the pelvis; this area is part human-part fish (the outside of this area is fish). Areas above the pelvis are human, and areas below the pelvis are fish.
How mermaids breathe
Mermaids have gills similar to that of fishes. This enables them to breathe underwater. However, they can also breathe surface air for extended periods of time (some fishes can do this too). They do have to keep their gills moist however; the moisture supports the gills, which collapse without it. Mermaids to have an ability to retrieve moisture from the air somewhat for this purpose; consequently they only need to drink water slightly more often than humans do. Mermaids' skin is also able to tolerate being constantly wet (stay in the sea a few days and see what happens to your skin). These are the only aspects of mermaids' upper bodies which are different from humans.
Mermaid tails
Mermaid tails are fish tails. Even though mermaids are warm-blooded, their tails are still cold-blooded. Their tails need moisture regularly to maintain integrity (just like fish tails do), especially the scales. However, a mermaid can stay out of water (in a humid area) for up to twelve hours (depends on the mermaid) without loosing tail integrity (in the episode "Metal Fish" at the end of the episode Ariel sat on a rock looking out into the distant horizon from afternoon until evening).
How mermaids reproduce
Females have human internal reproduction organs; however the vagina is slightly shorter, and the common urogenital opening (the urethra merges with the vaginal canal near the opening) is at the front. The opening can stretch as much as a human vaginal opening; mermaid babies are born live (as opposed to hatched from eggs). A clitoris (which is the same color as the tail) is slightly below the urogenital opening, and an anus is above the urogenital opening. Mermaid vaginas are slightly smaller than human ones (since male mermaid penises are smaller, explained below), so they tend to be more sexually satisfying to human males.
Males do have a penis, but it is almost as small as a human female clitoris and is the same color as the tail; it is hardly visible (this is the only plausible explanation to why no one has ever seen a penis on any of the male mermaids). It is used for urination, as well as sexual intercourse. The testicles are inside the tail, as opposed to the pelvis, since they require a slightly lower temperature to function properly (the human and pelvis part is warm-blooded, but the tail is cold-blooded). The anus is above the penis.
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This is even more interesting... made me LOL...
(A tongue-in cheek rebuttal to 'Mermaid Anatomy')
In the aforementioned article 'Mermaid Anatomy', the author makes several erroneous statements about merpeople, many of which are pure conjecture, some of which are outright incorrect. In this article I hope to set the record straight. We will look at 'Mermaid Anatomy' section by section.
In the introduction, the author states that "mermaids are humans from the waist up, but fishes from the waist down." This is incorrect. Merpeople are not human or fish at all. They are mammals that resemble human/fish combinations. They are warm blooded creatures, fish are not. (In the episode 'Charmed', Ariel chides Flounder, commenting that he is a fish, the water temperature doesn't bother him, while she is getting cold.)
Also, mammals, all mammals have hair - fish do not. Thirdly, mammals are called mammals because the female of the species have mammary glands. (Anyone who has seen Ariel can testify that she very definitely has mammary glands.)
The statement could be made that mammals do not have scales, however, it is possible that they could. Fish are not the only animals to have scales, lizards have scales, some amphibians have scales and even humans can develop scale like formations. It is also possible that they are not scales at all, they may be patterns that resemble scales.
In 'How mermaids breathe' it is stated that mermaids have gills, similar to fishes. Again, untrue. They have organs in their chest that can operate as a lung or a gill, depending on whether they are in or out of the water. The organ expands and contracts, exactly like a lung, yet has the ability to extract oxygen from the water. This allows merpeople to 'breathe' water the same way they breathe air, by filling and evacuating the chest cavity with an in-out motion. (It has been seen in more than one episode, Ariel taking a deep inhale of 'water' because she is out of breath.) This organ is also needed to operate the larynx, which will be discussed next.
The author states that '(gills) are the only aspect of mermaids upper bodies that differ from humans.' Yet, the merperson's larynx is totally different from the human larynx. The human larynx cannot operate under water, it cannot be made to vibrate from water pressure, yet the merperson's larynx operates equally well using water or air. (Ariel's voice sounds exactly the same under water as it does outside of water.)
The lenses of merpeople's eyes are also different, able to correct focus for use both above and under water. Human eyes cannot do this. (Open your eyes underwater and see what I mean. It's no wonder Eric missed when he threw the harpoon at the Sea Witch... then again, maybe he's a lousy shot.)
The subject of 'Mermaid Tails' being fish tails has already been disproved.
'How mermaids reproduce' is reasonably accurate, insofar as live birth vs. hatching from eggs. However, the statement that '(the) clitoris (which is the same color as the tail) is slightly below the urogenital opening, is a falsehood, simply because mermaids do not have a clitoris. That function is provided by a different organ. Merpeople have, surrounding the pelvis area, a wrap of fin-like, translucent skin called the 'skirt'. In the female there is an area in the front of the body, just at the base of the skirt that is extremely sensitive, and reproduces the effect of a human clitoris.
The statement is made that the male's penis is 'almost as small as the human female clitoris and the same color as the tail, it is hardly visible. The author then goes on to say that 'this is the only plausible explanation as to why no one has ever seen a penis on any of the male mermaids.' Firstly, the term is 'merman or mermen' not 'male mermaids.' Secondly there is a very plausible reason as to why we haven't seen a penis on a merman... they have internal genitalia, only extending when used for sexual intercourse. Many mammals have internal genitalia, especially underwater dwelling mammals; i.e. whales and dolphins. During sexual excitement, the penis extends out from an opening in the skin. This opening, like the female's vagina, is well hidden, making it difficult to see. The merman penis varies in size, just like the human penis. (Note: Being able to swim really fast, lift heavy weights, or making a lot of noise peeling out on a squidcycle are common ways to 'prove' you have a bigger penis than the other mermen.)
I hope that this clears up any confusion. Please note that all research done so far has been on a theoretical level only. If Ariel is reading this, she has an open invitation to assist me in more practical, hands on research. Strictly for scientific accuracy, you understand. I'll even pay for dinner and a movie. -
Originally posted by *evanesence*:
I wonder where did the author get all this info from...
Lol.. this is interesting....
[b]Mermaid Anatomy
(author's name withheld on request)
Steve's note: Someone tried to solve the age old question, "How do merfolk reproduce?", from an analytical standpoint. Rated PG. Kids, you may want to skip to some Top Ten lists.
Introduction
Mermaids are humans from the waist up, but fishes from the waist down. The boundary between the human area and fish area happens in the pelvis; this area is part human-part fish (the outside of this area is fish). Areas above the pelvis are human, and areas below the pelvis are fish.
How mermaids breathe
Mermaids have gills similar to that of fishes. This enables them to breathe underwater. However, they can also breathe surface air for extended periods of time (some fishes can do this too). They do have to keep their gills moist however; the moisture supports the gills, which collapse without it. Mermaids to have an ability to retrieve moisture from the air somewhat for this purpose; consequently they only need to drink water slightly more often than humans do. Mermaids' skin is also able to tolerate being constantly wet (stay in the sea a few days and see what happens to your skin). These are the only aspects of mermaids' upper bodies which are different from humans.
Mermaid tails
Mermaid tails are fish tails. Even though mermaids are warm-blooded, their tails are still cold-blooded. Their tails need moisture regularly to maintain integrity (just like fish tails do), especially the scales. However, a mermaid can stay out of water (in a humid area) for up to twelve hours (depends on the mermaid) without loosing tail integrity (in the episode "Metal Fish" at the end of the episode Ariel sat on a rock looking out into the distant horizon from afternoon until evening).
How mermaids reproduce
Females have human internal reproduction organs; however the vagina is slightly shorter, and the common urogenital opening (the urethra merges with the vaginal canal near the opening) is at the front. The opening can stretch as much as a human vaginal opening; mermaid babies are born live (as opposed to hatched from eggs). A clitoris (which is the same color as the tail) is slightly below the urogenital opening, and an anus is above the urogenital opening. Mermaid vaginas are slightly smaller than human ones (since male mermaid penises are smaller, explained below), so they tend to be more sexually satisfying to human males.
Males do have a penis, but it is almost as small as a human female clitoris and is the same color as the tail; it is hardly visible (this is the only plausible explanation to why no one has ever seen a penis on any of the male mermaids). It is used for urination, as well as sexual intercourse. The testicles are inside the tail, as opposed to the pelvis, since they require a slightly lower temperature to function properly (the human and pelvis part is warm-blooded, but the tail is cold-blooded). The anus is above the penis.
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don tell me he caught a mermaid and.... -
Here's a beauuutiful painting of a mermaid..
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Mermaids": Urgent Action Needed to Save them from Habitat Destruction, Pollution and Entanglement in Fishing Nets
Global Report on the Plight of the Dugong Underscores Increasing Threats to the Marine Environment Upon which Billions of People and Wildlife Depend
Strictly embargoed for one minute to midnight GMT 12 February 2002 (A Tuesday for Wednesday story)
Cartagena/Nairobi, 12 February 2002 - The mysterious and rare marine-living dugong, considered the inspiration for fishy tales of mermaids made up by old seafarers, is under serious and increasing threat in most parts of the world where it is still found.
Findings from the first ever, global, study of the enigmatic "sea cow or elephant of the sea", indicates that rising pollution from the land, coastal developments, boat traffic and fishermens' nets are among the list of increasing threats which are contributing to a decline in the dugong's fortunes.
The threats to the animal should be of critical concern to the billions of people who rely on the oceans for their livelihoods. If the dugong, a key indicator species, is declining then the coastal environment which provides protein in the form of fish and incomes in terms of tourism is also being degraded.
Hunting for meat, amulets and trophies may be adding to these pressures, says the report released today at the seventh special session of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Ministerial Environment Forum taking place in the northern, seaside, city of Cartagena, Colombia.
Helene Marsh, Professor of Environmental Science at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, and the lead author of the report, said: "Dugongs appear to have disappeared or already become extinct in some places such as the waters off Mauritius, the Seychelles, western Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Japan's Sakishima Shoto Islands, Hong Kong's Pearl River estuary, several islands in the Philippines including Zambales and Cebu, and parts of Cambodia and Vietnam".
"Elsewhere populations appear to be declining with the possible exception of northern Australian waters and those of the Red Sea area and Arabian Gulf. The situation in East Africa is particularly alarming and it is possible that this will be the next place where the dugong becomes extinct unless urgent action is taken," said the scientist, whose report has been funded by organizations including UNEP, the World Conservation Union, UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the CRC Reef Research Centre
Even where populations appear stable or buoyant, there can be no room for complacency argues the report, The Dugong (Dugong dugon): Status Report and Action Plans for Countries and Territories in its Range.
Human populations are growing across much of the dugongs range, putting pressure on the coastal habitats where dugongs are restricted as a result of their dependence on seagrasses for food.
Meanwhile dugongs reproduce at a very low rate with females rarely producing more than one calf, sometime between the age of six and 17 years old, and failing to reproduce at all during times of food shortages.
"So even under a perfect, pressure-free and pollution-free environment, a dugong population is unlikely to grow at much more than five per cent a year. Even a slight reduction in the survival of the adults, as a result of habitat loss, disease, hunting or incidental drowning in nets, can cause a chronic decline," said Tim Foresman, Director of UNEP's Division of Early Warning and Assessment.
The report has gathered information on the state of the dugong from researchers, local people, fishermen and government officials in the 37 countries and territories where the animal has historically been recorded. -
Seagrasses
The report makes urgent conservation recommendations aimed at stemming the decline and boosting dugong numbers. These centre around the protection of seagrass beds upon which these herbivorous animals' are almost totally dependent for food.
Seagrasses require sunlight to thrive. In many areas of the world, seagrass beds are being cleared for development or smothered by silt and mud as a result of run off due to overgrazing, intensive agriculture and deforestation.
Port developments and dredging are causing similar impacts. The use of herbicides, which swill off the land into the sea, on sugar cane plantations may also be damaging seagrass beds.
Climate change, with its anticipated rise in more violent, damaging storms and flash floods, poses a new threat. The report notes that such events have, in places like South East Asia and Australia, devastated hundreds of square kilometres of seagrass beds in recent years.
Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of UNEP, said: "There are many reasons for fighting climate change. Securing the future of the oceans is a crucial one. More violent weather events and rising sea temperatures threaten precious ecosystems and habitats such as coral reefs, fish stocks and creatures like the dugong. The report also shows that we must strengthen our efforts to reduce marine pollution. Late last year in Montreal, nations met and agreed to re-vitalize the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities. The health of dugong populations could become a key indicator in many parts of the globe as to whether this renewed initiative is succeeding".
The report also highlights the need for countries with dugong populations to strengthen conservation initiatives with neighboring countries, including signing and ratifying the Convention on Migratory Species, a UNEP-linked convention. Dugongs, which were once thought to be relatively sedentary, have been found to travel up to 600km in a few days, the report says.
Robert Hepworth, Deputy Director of UNEP's Division of Environmental Conventions said "It is also important that all countries co-operate to prevent international commercial exploitation of this species. Dugongs deserve the same attention already devoted to other marine mammals such as dolphins and small whales, where joint management plans could be implemented at national and regional level. The dugong's main diet of sea grass also occurs frequently alongside coral and mangrove ecosystems. Conservation programmes already in place, such as the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN), can be part of the effort to save dugongs"
Notes to Editors
East Africa. "The future for dugongs in East Africa is uncertain but appears bleak. Populations appear extremely small and fragmentedÂ….the latest reports suggest that they are likely to become extinct in this region," says the report.
It points to gill net fisheries, in which dugongs can become entangled, as a key concern. This is alongside destruction of seagrass beds as a result of poor farming practices, including grazing livestock on coastal dunes, and the clearing of coastal and inland forests and wetlands for salt panning and shrimp farms. Removal of mangrove swamps for firewood and building materials and sand mining, are other key concerns.
Few if any individuals now remain off the coasts of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, the Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius despite many of these countries once holding significant populations with herds in the hundreds.
In Kenya, surveys carried out between 1973 and the 1990s, indicate a rapid decline in the dugong population. There are considered to be no more than 50 left. Similar stories emerge in other countries in the region.
The Red Sea region
The report is more optimistic about the dugong here. The animals are subject to few, man-made, pressures in the Red Sea region.
"It is likely that the area supports significant numbers of dugongs. Saudi Arabia could play a vital role in the preservation of dugong habitats and dugong conservation in the Red Sea as human density along the Saudi coast is low," it says.
Arabian Gulf
The dugong population in the Arabian Gulf is believed to be the second largest in the world after Australia. Akab Island in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is, at 6,000 years old, the oldest site where remains of the animals have been discovered.
Populations are concentrated along the coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE.
India and Sri Lanka
Herds of many hundreds once occurred in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka but the most recent surveys have failed to find any. Populations are thought to be completely depleted in the Gulf of Mannar.
Dugong populations around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have declined drastically in recent decades. The damage has been caused by increasingly heavy boat traffic, conversion of coastal forests to banana, areca nut and coconut plantations leading to toxic run off, pollution from urban centres, oil spills, bottom trawling by fishermen and the commercial harvesting of seagrasses
In Sri Lanka, dugongs were common up to the early part of the 20th century in north west coastal waters. But they are now rarely sighted as a result of over harvesting for meat, oil and hide. -
East and Southeast Asia
The waters off Okinawa Island are now thought to be the only place in Japan where dugongs are left. The seagrass meadows which support them are under threat from coastal construction, run off from the land, land reclamation and the expansion of seaweed aqua culture operations. Nets for seaweed aqua culture are often set over seagrass beds.
Dugongs are now thought to occur only in and around Hainan Island in China and those populations are at risk from seagrass habitat destruction as a result of factors including construction of fish and shrimp ponds, aqua culture industries, rising sea levels causing increased erosion and siltation from the land.
Hainan is a popular tourist destination and dugongs may also be being disturbed and displaced by boats and Scuba divers.
"Dugongs were believed to be fairly common throughout the Philippines until the 1970s. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most populations in Philippine waters are declining," says the report.
Seventy three per cent of those surveyed in Thailand say the dugong population is declining which is line with the opinion of government officials, scientists and non-governmental organizations.
Records of dugongs in Singapore waters date back to 1821, but they were considered largely extinct by the 1970s.
The report says there have been sightings of small number of dugongs in Malaysian and Brunei waters.
The animals are considered to be scattered in small numbers throughout Indonesian waters. In the 1970s there were an estimated 10,000 dugongs. The latest estimate is 1,000.
Pacific Islands
A small, isolated, population is found around Palau. Surveys indicate that there were 38 dugongs in 1983 but only 26 were sighted in 1991.
The animals are poached for food for special occasions. "Unless poaching is stopped as a matter or urgency, it is likely dugongs will become extinct in Palau," says the report.
It is likely that dugongs are distributed in small, scattered numbers, in the waters off Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Australia
The waters of Western Australia support many thousands of dugong which currently appear to be free from damaging levels of human activity in key areas like Shark Bay.
Australia's Northern Territory and Queensland coasts, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, also support thousands of dugongs. There is some hunting by indigenous peoples and there is a risk of heavy metal pollution from port facilities, but generally the animals do not appear under too much threat except along the urban east coast of Queensland.
Mermaids: The popular stories of this fabulous marine creature, half-woman and half-fish, allied to the siren of classic mythology, probably arose from sailors' accounts of the dugong, a cetacean whose head has a rough resemblance to the human outline. The mother while suckling her young holds it to her breast with one flipper, as a woman holds her baby in her arm. If disturbed, she suddenly dives under the water, and tosses up her fishlike tail - Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable: Millennium Edition.
UNEP has coordinated the Global Marine Mammal Action Plan since 1984 with partners such as the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization in an effort to address marine mammal issues including their decline due to pollution and exploitation. At the regional level UNEP has also fostered the development of regional management plans such as those for the West Indian manatee, which is the sea cow species found in the Caribbean, in the Wider Caribbean and for marine mammals in the South East Pacific under the framework of the regional Cartagena and Lima Conventions respectively. -
Dugongs are such cute animals...it would be a pity if they become extinct...
I still remember sometime ago when I saw a Dugong feding on seagrass in the Underwater World..so cute