Dugong

Affectionately named after his eating habits, Pig was rescued from Forrest Beach in North Queensland when he became separated from his mother at a very early age. After a period of rehabilitation, Pig was released into the wild. However when he was found washed up again a decision was made not to release him again for fears he wouldn't survive.

This big, gentle mammalian herbivore may not at first glance look much like the mermaids you might have read about in myths and legends. It's thought that the legend of dugongs belonging to the Sirenia (the Greek word for mermaid) originated from delirious sailors who mistook the animals for seductive fishy-tailed females after too long out on the ocean. The common name, dugong, comes from a Malay word meaning 'lady of the sea'. In fact, dugongs are most closely related not to any other sea creature, but to elephants.

Pig is a BIG eater and feeds almost constantly from 7:30am to 7:00pm every day. In the wild, dugongs eat massive amounts of seagrass, and the closest match to that at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium is cos lettuce. Pig adores cos lettuce and eats about 30kg every day. The cos is washed and threaded into specially weighted racks, which sit on the bottom of the dugong display in Dugong Island, enabling Pig to graze as he would in the wild.

Dugongs are found in warm coastal and inland waters of the Western Indo-Pacific region. This reaches from East Africa to Australia, including the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. 

Did you know Australia has one of the largest populations of dugongs in the world?