Large Dugong Herd Spotted in Persian Gulf
JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — A herd of up to 500 dugongs, a large, somewhat whalelike tropical mammal previously thought endangered in the Persian Gulf, has been sighted in a survey of the waterway, environment officials reported.
Meteorological and Environmental Protection Administration officials said 300 to 500 of the mammals were spotted from helicopters east of Bahrain in two groups half a mile apart.
The find has excited biologists, who had feared that the gulf’s dugong population was no longer viable after oil spilling from Iranian offshore wells in early 1983 killed dozens of the animals.
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