Dugongs, the chubby marine mammals that once inspired the imaginative mythical tales of homesick sailors mermaidsare now extinct in China, new research shows.
For hundreds of years, these gentle giants, commonly known as manatees, have swam in Chinese waters, tearing open seagrass on the ocean floor with a flexible upper lip. But with no sightings of manatees in the region being confirmed for more than two decades, an international team of scientists recently conducted an in-depth investigation, surveying local fishing communities in four Chinese provinces and looking for evidence of the missing dugongs (dugong dugon).
