Sea cow trapped in fishpen rescued in Puerto Princesa City

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PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — Authorities rescued a female sea cow, locally called “dugong,” that was trapped Thursday morning, Nov. 30, in a fishpen around 200 meters away from the shore in Barangay Bancao-Bancao in this city.

Rescue officers from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (Lamave) later released the marine mammal to a deeper part of the sea. It was stuck in the fishpen for around eight hours before it was rescued.

Petty Officer First Class Andy Villacillo, a PCG personnel in Bancao-bancao station, said in an interview that the dugong weighed about 300 kilos and is a regular visitor of the area. It visits the shallow part of the sea there to graze.

It was trapped in the fishpen as it got stuck in the shallow water because of low tide, Villacillo said.

A fishpen owner found it around 3 a.m. when he checked for fish catch, he added.

“Fishers told us there were two of the sea cows that were seen here regularly. She had a companion. It’s possible that the other one left before the low tide,” Villacillo said.

Meanwhile, Sally Snow of Lamave said they had to be extra cautious in handling the sea cow to prevent it from getting injured.

“We don’t want to cause any more distress to the animal. And right now, because it’s in a pool [of water], it is good,” Snow said during the rescue.

She added that even though they returned it to deeper waters, they had to monitor it and make sure that it didn’t return to the shallow part of the sea.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed sea cows as vulnerable to extinction as their population continued to dwindle due to habitat loss, pollution, accidental capture in fishing gear, and hunting.

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