PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Philippines – Village officials and bantay dagat (sea patrol) workers rescued a female sea cow stranded on a beach in Roxas town in Palawan province on Tuesday morning, Oct. 17.
Bong Libiran, the town’s bantay dagat head, they found the sea cow — a marine mammal also known as a sirenia, or locally as “dugong” — on a beach near a river in Barangay Malcampo at around 6 a.m.
The sea cow was about 2.4 meters long and weighed about 150 kilograms.
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At first, Libiran said they presumed that the sea cow was dead, but when they took it to a deeper part of the waters, it started to move.
He said the sea cow might have been caught in the low tide while grazing on seagrass in the shallow part of the sea.
He also said the sea cow had wounds in its body.
“We treated its wounds first before bringing it back to a deeper part of the waters. It looked old as it also bore shells on its body,” Libiran said.
He said they monitored it and waited for it to regain its strength.
“We also asked the village officials to check on it,” he added.