Thailand’s Andaman Coast is home to one of the largest dugong populations in the world, with 273 of the plump marine mammals, sometimes called sea cows, estimated to be living there as of 2022. In recent years, though, more and more dead or stranded dugongs have been washing ashore. Now the Andaman Coast population may have fallen by more than half, experts say.
In late November, I travelled to Phuket, following in the footsteps of film-makers Mailee Osten-Tan and Nick Axelrod, who have been investigating Thailand’s dugong crisis over the past year for a new Guardian documentary.
The reason that dugongs are in Phuket to begin with is troubling, and points to the larger biodiversity crisis in our seas. But first, this week’s most important reads.
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In focus
I’ve been covering the extinction crisis facing the world’s biodiversity for more than a decade, tracking vanishing species through forests and across the Arctic tundra, and witnessing the threats that face them. But the struggles of species that live below the water’s surface are often only revealed when their lifeless bodies wash ashore. Even then, they tend to get less attention than their land-based counterparts; if a marine animal isn’t blessed with a certain charisma, its extinction can happen out of human sight.
People who amplify concerns about these animals, then, are extremely important. At a roti shack on the edge of Tang Khen Bay, I met Theerasak Saksritawee (pictured above and below), known as Pop, a local photographer who has been recording the plight of dugongs via captivating drone images. He hopes to share more about dugongs with his 26,000 followers on Instagram, building a social movement to champion their protection. “Many people, when they think of conservation, focus on sea turtles and dolphins,” he says. “Some people can’t even tell where a dugong’s eyes are.”
Just before meeting Pop, I had been attacked by a large Chinese goose (Anser cygnoides). The territorial animal had grown used to Pop’s presence along the shoreline day after day, and was protective of him. He nipped at my trousers and wouldn’t let go until Pop calmed him down. In that way, the goose was reminiscent of Miracle – the lone dugong left in Tang Khen Bay as of late 2025. At one point, there were as many as 13 dugongs living in the bay, nibbling the stubbly seagrass that sprouts along the ocean floor. But Miracle – who earned his name for having twice been saved from beach strandings – had chased the others away, biting at their flippers to keep the seagrass to himself.
The fact that dugongs are present in Phuket worries environmental scientists. Normally, the bulk of the Andaman Coast population resides 62 miles (100km) away in the waters of Trang province, home to abundant seagrass meadows. A lot of that seagrass, however, has died in recent years. And in response, dugongs are travelling farther and farther in search of food.
I’ve reported extensively on the fourth global mass coral bleaching event devastating the world’s reefs. So I was intrigued when the scientists I spoke with told me they had briefly considered whether higher-than-normal sea temperatures may have also triggered Thailand’s seagrass die-off, killing the aquatic plant or otherwise stunting its growth. When I considered what had happened to corals, it seemed feasible.
But Thailand’s Andaman Sea actually experienced cooler temperatures than normal in 2023, and by the time it reached unseasonably high temperatures in mid-2024, the dugong strandings and deaths were already in full swing. Ultimately, scientists say they still aren’t entirely sure what has caused the massive seagrass die-off, but it’s likely a combination of shifting environmental factors: reduced light reaching the seagrass due to silt in the water; pollution; dredging; more dissolved nutrients in the system; extreme sea temperatures; and elevated daytime tidal exposure.
One hope for tackling the many complex crises happening in our oceans is the UN’s high seas treaty, which entered into force at the weekend. This agreement aims to legally protect and sustainably manage marine life in the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction. This will help to meet a global goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
After I left Tang Khen Bay, I travelled to Phuket’s old town, where it was the beginning of the high season. The streets were packed with slow-walking tourists and it was difficult to move through the narrow lanes lined with souvenir stalls. I searched among the keyrings and shell jewellery for anything resembling a dugong – a sign that the animals were beginning to gain cultural cache in this tourist hotspot. Maybe that would help to protect them, as Pop had said. In the end, I managed to turn up just one pin for sale featuring a cartoonish dugong – with clearly visible eyes.
Read more:
UK urged to ratify high seas treaty to avoid being shut out of Ocean Cop summit
Looking for Miracle: why have so many dugongs gone missing from Thailand’s shores?
‘We rarely see them now’: just how vulnerable are Vanuatu’s dugongs?
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