Rescuers free young dugong from a fanbelt in Western Australia
西オーストラリアでファンベルトに絡まったジュゴンを救助ほっこり
- Country:
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- Voice:
- 🇬🇧 Oliver
英語本文
Fifteen responders freed a young dugong, a marine mammal, caught in a car fanbelt in Western Australia's north-west and carried it back to deeper water, wildlife officials reported. The roughly two-metre animal was spotted struggling on October 21 at Wapet Creek, a tidal estuary near Exmouth, about 1,230 kilometres north of Perth. Officials nicknamed it Wapi after the creek.
Rescuers assessed its health and sought advice from Perth Zoo and the Sea World Foundation before restraining it and cutting away the belt. They wrapped it in a cargo net and lifted it over sand flats and a sandbar to the sea. The operation took less than 24 hours. Officials did not know where it had encountered the belt.
State marine official Sam Miles praised the team effort and said the dugong showed no major distress. James Cook University conservation scientist Helene Marsh welcomed its strong swimming after release. Dugongs feed on seagrass; Exmouth Gulf has the state's second-largest concentration after Shark Bay.