Meet the Dugong

Share a minute with a rare marine mammal, the dugong (Dugong dugon).

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Most Americans are familiar with the endangered Caribbean manatee (Trichechus manatus), a slow moving herbivorous mammal that swims in shallow warm waters from Florida and the Caribbean to coastal South America. The dugong is related to the manatee, but it lives in the Pacific Ocean from Micronesia and the Philippines to Taiwan, South East Asia, and Indonesia to northern Australia and the Pacific islands. Unfortunately, only the Australian population is monitored and there is concern that this gentle plant-eater may be disappearing across much of its territory.

Watch the dugong swimming and you will note that it has a fluked tail like a dolphin, rather than a spoon-shaped manatee tail. The dugong swims faster than the manatee and is known to travel further when migrating. 

However, because it lives across a wider area, little is known about wild dugongs except that they eat sea grass. They are important creatures in their marine ecosystem because their grazing encourages the growth of sea grass higher in nutrients. In captivity, dugongs are picky eaters, refusing more nutrient-rich greens and preferring romaine lettuce. 

Unfortunately, romaine is low in nutrients. It takes a crew of people to keep the dugongs healthy. They refill special feeding trays all day long that hold the lettuce upright underwater like sea grass. 

Like their closest land-relative, the elephant, dugongs can live to around age 70. They also do not reach sexual maturity until after 10 years old and mothers care for their offspring for several years, spacing calves three to seven years apart. They are very slow to reproduce. 

In 2014 there are only five dugongs in captivity in the world. The two pictured here are orphaned individuals that were unable to survive in the wild.  (more about Pig and Wuru at the Sydney Aquarium in Australia).

See more Australian wildlife:
Cape Tribulation, Queensland - Watch Green Tree Ants
See Natural Art on a Tropical Australian Beach (sand dabbler crabs)
Flying Foxes in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia
Sea Birds on Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia  
Spotting a Lace Monitor in the Wild
Australian Great Barrier Reef Swim (parrot fish, zebra fish, giant clams, coral)

Swim over to The Earth Minute each week for a new one-minute adventure.

Close-up with a Red Jumping Spider

Not all spiders are the same. Jumping spiders are compact athletes with short, strong legs. Rather than construct webs, they prowl around for their prey. This spider is more like a tiger. 

Get close-up with a red jumping spider (Phidippus formosus). See if you can count its eyes?


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Nearly the size of a quarter, this is California's largest jumping spider. More information on this amazing spider at Animalbytes.net

See more wildlife close-ups, including California's Valley carpenter bees and gray bird grasshopper, and green tree ants in Australia's rainforest.

Discover something new each week on The Earth Minute

Discover Mountain Wildflowers in Wyoming

In this montane meadow at Togwotee Pass in Wyoming, discover wildflowers and the meadow thistle (Cirsium scaroiosum).

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While some people collect photos of architecture or kittens, I love thistles. Native thistles in their natural environment. 

meadow thistle (Cirsium scaroiosum)

Unlike most thistles, the meadow thistle has a single thick stalk with numerous flowers close together encircling the crown. Fine hairs on the leaves reflect the sun making the plant appear to glow on the mountain slopes. 

I have a hunch these plants really dazzle in the ultraviolet part of the light spectrum, creating a beacon to attract native bees and insects. The meadow thistle lives at high elevation and must attract its pollinators during a short alpine summer. 

creamy buckwheat (Eriogonium umbellatum var. subalpinum)

Togwotee Pass is adjacent to Tetons National Park and Yellowstone National Park. (watch bison in Yellowstone)

For more about Rocky Mountain flora visit rockymountainsflora.com

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1-minute adventure each week

California Misses the Rain -Take an Autumn Walk in New York's Central Park

In Southern California we are in the middle of a record drought.

This October we visited New York City's iconic

Central Park and took a walk on a wet and beautiful fall day.

Join us on our rainy day stroll through the park! 

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Watching a Snowy Egret

If you just watch an animal for a minute, you can understand so much more about it. Watch this snowy egret (Egretta thula) feeding in shallow water and you will understand why it has long legs, a long beak, and yellow feet.

The snowy egret is a common bird along California waterways. It is frequently mistaken for a great egret, a larger white wading bird with a yellow beak and black feet. The snowy egret's feet are its calling card–black legs with bright yellow feet.

Watch the video and you will understand why its yellow feet are an important adaptation.

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This snowy egret was easily observed at Malibu Legacy Park. See  more about Malibu Legacy Park one of Los Angeles' Hidden Gardens.

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The Voices of a River - Lamoille Creek, Nevada

River water flows across rocks and through narrow turns,
speaking to all who will listen.

Take a minute to hear Lamoille Creek's voice
sing from different throats along it's course.

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Lamoille Creek is one of the largest 

in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada.

From Elko, Nevada follow State Route 227 to

Lamoille Canyon.

The stream flowed through a wonderful campground at Thomas Canyon.  And further up Lamoille Canyon beaver had created habitat for wildlife. 

Hear other location specific audio.

Visit each week to see and hear a new

 The Earth Minute.

See the "Island of the Blue Dolphins" - San Nicolas Island, CA

San Nicolas Island, CA

The story of the "Lone Woman" of San Nicolas Island formed the inspiration for Scott O'Dell's classic coming-of-age novel Island of the Blue Dolphins. 

Take a minute to explore this unique wild habitat 61 miles from the California mainland. Imagine surviving here, by yourself, for 18 years.

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San Nicolas Island is a wild windswept slice of sandstone. California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) lounge on its beaches. Delicate native plants, like sand verbena (Abronia ssp.) thrive by staying low and out of the wind. The endemic San Nicolas Island fox (Urocyon littoralis dickeyi) scratches out a living on dune insects and San Nicolas Island deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus exterus). Current status of San Nicolas Island fox.

San Nicolas Island fox pup

sandstone carved by the sea into unusual shapes

The island is not open to the public because it is a U.S. Navy installation. As Education Director for Friends of the Island Fox, I had the opportunity to visit this most remote of California's Channel Islands. It is a place of unique natural splendor.

Compare San Nicolas to Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park.

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Earth Minute.