By Hajira Amla

Victoria When travelling through the Seychelles archipelago of 115 islands, scattered throughout the warm, tropical waters of the western Indian Ocean, seafarers might consider themselves fortunate to witness a whale lumbering gracefully through the sea or a pod of dolphins frolicking in the waves.

But for a group of conservationists working in the remote far-flung atoll of Aldabra, located in the westernmost reaches of the archipelago, they were recently treated to an almost mythical sight - a dugong speeding playfully through the atoll's waters.

Around two hundred years ago, the dugong, otherwise known as the sea-cow, was a common sight throughout the Seychelles when the archipelago was first discovered by European explorers.

The rotund, peaceful creatures which primarily graze on seagrass were a common sight around the other islands in the archipelago, and the northernmost Bird Island was once known as Ile aux Vaches as testament to the large numbers of dugongs which gathered there to breed.

Sadly, the dugongs were hunted to extinction in the Seychelles by seafarers eager to exploit them for their meat and oil.

Since those days, the dugongs have not been back to the islands, but in 2001, dugongs were suddenly sighted around the wild, uninhabited western atoll of Aldabra, where up to 150,000 giant tortoises roam freely on the hard, sun-baked land.

The public trust which manages the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aldabra, the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), believes that the dugongs frequenting the atoll travelled north-west from Madagascar, which lies a scant 426 kilometres away.

Speaking to SNA via email, SIF communications officer Rowana Walton said that East Africa and Madagascar still have healthy dugong populations, but added that it was unknown whether the dugongs were permanently resident at Aldabra or if they migrate periodically between these areas.

"Aldabra provides a safe refuge for dugongs and has extensive seagrass beds where they can feed and reproduce," she said. "Dugongs may have been present and unrecorded on Aldabra for a long time but they seem to be increasing now."

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Seychelles: Rare Dugong Is Sighted in Seychelles At Aldabra