A young adult dugong was rescued and released by local fishermen at Manora in Thanjvaur district in the Palk Bay with help of Forest Department officials.
The dugong, weighing about 150 kg, was caught in a trap net. The local fishermen alerted the Forest Range Officer, Pattukottai, following which a team of volunteers and fishers jumped into the waters and swam around the dugong. As the trap net was round, it could not find the proper exit.
The fishermen spent an hour moving the dugong from one side of the trap net to the exit. They put up two poles connected by a net, similar to a fence, and moved it from one end to another inside the trap net to help it move towards the exit. Since the dugong was active, the fishermen were cautious not to be hit by its tail side, said Forest Department officials.
The fishermen involved — N. Mahalingam, M. Ashok Kumar, S. Surendran and C. Subramaniyan — would be felicitated and issued cash rewards for their gesture, said Akil Thampi, District Forest Officer, Thanjavur.
After the declaration of the International Dugong Conservation Reserve in the Palk Bay last year, several awareness campaigns in coastal villages involving NGOs such as Omcar Foundation had been conducted by the Forest Department and they were now yielding results, he added.
