The dugong is du-gone from the competition!
This seagrass specialist has placed 7th in Australian Mammal of the Year for the second year in a row. Things are really heating up now, with the closest call between the bottom 4 in a voting round yet!
Now you’ve got just 22 hours to vote for your favourite in the Top 6, after which we’ll remove the lowest-rated mammal, clear the tallies and start again with the Top 5 at the same time tomorrow. Get behind our mammals and give them a shoutout to your friends and family to ensure they make it into the next rounds.
After the tally closes each day we’ll scrutineer the votes and block any spamming IPs so that, like last year, passionate supporters can’t guaranteed their mammal’s place with any anomalous voting.
Adieu to the dugong!
Name: Dugong (Dugong dugon)
Size: Length up to 3m, weight up to 570kg.
Diet: Seagrass community specialist.
Habitat: Coastal northern Australia from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Moreton Bay near Brisbane (all year), south to Port Stephens in NSW in summer.
Conservation status in Australia: Protected.
Superpower: Meet the only grass-munching mammal that spends all its life in the sea.
Why would a 400kg marine mammal with a face that only another dugong might love be considered as the origin of myths about mermaids and sirens? This link is usually attributed to the dugong’s pectoral mammary glands (which have been likened to human breasts) and long period of close calf dependency. But this link might be more about lust than likeness. There are stories about dugongs being used as surrogate females by fishermen at several places in their vast range, which extends through tropical and sub-tropical coastal and island waters from east Africa to Vanuatu.
But Australia is the dugong capital of the world. Our northern coastal waters support most of the world’s dugong population and are the most common marine mammals throughout most of this region. The Torres Strait region supports more dugongs than anywhere else.
Indigenous peoples have been hunting dugongs throughout their range for at least 4,000 years. The dugongs is a culturally significant species and features prominently in the art and stories of many coastal peoples, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples across northern Australia. The coverings of the biblical Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant are believed to have been made from dugong skin.
The dugong is the only member of the family Dugongidae and one of only four extant sirenians (seacows) – the other three species are manatees. Despite being in separate families, manatees and dugongs look remarkably alike. The most obvious difference is in the shape of the tail: manatees have a round tail like a beaver’s, while the tail of a dugong resembles that of a whale or a dolphin. The build of a manatee is more robust than that of a dugong, which looks like a manatee that goes to the gym! Dugongs look like a cross between a walrus and a dolphin without a dorsal fin.
From a biological perspective, the dugong is quite different to other marine mammals. It is the only herbivorous mammal that spends all its life in the sea. Manatees and dugongs are more closely related to elephants and hyraxes than other marine mammals.
The diving achievements of dugongs are modest, mostly reflecting the distributions of the seagrass communities on which they feed. Although dugongs mostly eat seagrass, they also target invertebrates at the high latitude limits to their range in winter and have been described as “closet omnivores”.
Dugongs perceive their aquatic environments largely through touch, hydrodynamic reception and hearing; vision and taste are also likely important to some degree. They have sparse sensory hairs all over their bodies that function like the lateral lines of fishes.
Dugongs are long-lived and slow-breeding. The oldest wild dugong that has been aged was more than 70 years old when she died. Dugongs generally have one calf every few years from a minimum age of around seven years. However, they suspend breeding when seagrass is in short supply after cyclones, floods or marine heatwaves.
The conservation status of the dugong is variable. It is listed as vulnerable to extinction at a global scale by IUCN and as endangered, critically endangered, or extinct in several of its more than 40 range countries. Fortunately, the dugong does not qualify for listing as threatened in Australia at a national scale. Nonetheless, they are protected as migratory and marine species. However, there is concern about the population in some regions, particularly the urban cost of the Great Barrier Reef.
In no particular order, here are our Top 6!
Gilbert’s Potoroo (Potorous gilbertii)
The Gilbert’s Potoroo secured 56.5% of support in in “Woodland Wanderers”. After missing from the records for 120 years and thought extinct, they came “back from the dead” when rediscovered in 1994.
Dingo (Canis dingo or Canis familiaris)
Our charismatic but controversial canid made it to the Top 10 with 32.6% of the vote in “Snow Patrol: Alpine Adventurers”.
Golden-tipped bat (Phoniscus papuensis)
The golden-tipped bat made a glittering impression on voters with 46.1% of the votes in “The Cool South: Forest Fossickers”. They roost in the bottom of suspended bird nests, excising a chamber below the nest where they happily freeload.
Australian fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus)
Having placed second in “Under the Sea: Marine Marvels”, unlike last year, the Australian fur seal collected enough votes overall to make it to the Top 10. They are the largest of all fur seals in the world, with females weighing 78kg and males 220-360kg.
Spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus conspicillatus)
With 27.3% of the support in its category to make it to the Top 10, the spectacled flying-fox is the ultimate “Rainforest Rambler”. They can fly 112 km and spread 60,000 seeds in a single night while foraging for food.
Mountain pygmy possum (Burramys parvus)
The mountain pygmy possum scaled to second position in “Snow Patrol: Alpine Adventurers”, but still managed to receive enough votes overall to secure its spot in the Top 10. Did you know they hibernate for 5-7 months every year under the snow, during which they lose half of their body weight?
How does voting work?
“But how does voting work?” you may ask. Don’t worry, it’s super simple.
Voting has now opened for the Top 6 and will remain open until 10am AEST tomorrow, Saturday 19 August.
Then, at 12pm AEST we’ll announce the mammal that has received the least votes and has been knocked out of the running.
We’ll set the tally back to zero and open up voting for the Top 5 anew. Voting will be open for 22 hours, until 10am AEST the following day. And repeat!
We’ll whittle away at the list of our most marvellous mammals until the Top 3 left standing are announced, and voting opens once more, on Monday 21 August.
Then, we’ll finally put the debate to rest for 2023 and crown Australia’s Mammal of the Year on Thursday 24 August!