Adult dugong dies as juvenile rescued in Antique

SEA STRANDING An adult dugong (right) was found dead off Sebaste, Antique, on Monday, a day after a juvenile dugong was rescued in neighboring Caluya town. —Photos courtesy of Rey Tan Cadiena/Jelly Agustin

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — An adult dugong was found dead along the coast of Sebaste, Antique, on Monday, a day after residents rescued a stranded juvenile of the threatened marine mammal in neighboring Caluya town.

The adult dugong was found along the shoreline of Barangay Aras-Asan, where authorities examined the carcass and arranged for its proper handling.

Flord Nicson Calawag, a licensed fisheries technologist and biodiversity researcher, said the dugong appeared to be a large adult based on photographs, but its cause of death could not be determined without a necropsy.

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