In days gone by, homesick sailors often described sightings of mother dugongs lying on their backs, cradling their young in their flippers to suckle. This is believed to be the catalyst for tales of mermaids, gorgeous creatures that were half woman, half fish, inhabiting the oceans. Once able to travel freely in large, sociable herds, dugongs have now become shy, retiring creatures who live alone or in small family groups. These animals graze silently on the water plants of rivers, estuaries and shallow coastal waters, occasionally drifting to the surface to breathe. These gentle creatures once populated the southern end of Hervey Bay around Pulgul Creek in great numbers, but the depletion of food in the Hervey Bay region in more recent years severely affected their numbers.
Reports now indicate the sea-grass seems to be returning and with it the dugongs.
Their thick skin is almost hairless, with a few bristles around the mouth which help in identifying and selecting food. Feeding on higher plants rather than algae, they are among the few plant-eating aquatic mammals alive today. They are also extraordinary in their ability to dive for food with fully inflated lungs and to stay under water for as long as fifteen minutes. Locomotion for such a large creature is cumbersome, to say the least. They cannot see very well but instead rely on their acute hearing and strong sense of smell for navigation.