Sea Cows Essay

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Sea cows also known as dugongs are large aquatic grey mammals! Surprisingly sea cows are herbivores. They live in shallow waters anywhere from 1-5 meters deep. There are many organizations set up for the safety of sea cows. Sea cows are an Australian animal that are not very known, but need to be known about. Sea cows can grow up to three meters long and weigh at about 400 kilograms. They are often referred to as the “Dugong”, they live for more than 70 years! The sea cow lives entirely on sea grass and is known to be the only herbivorous sea mammal. The sea cow is more related to elephants than to dolphins or whales. Sea cows are light brown, but they are pale brown at birth. They have a rotund body shape and flat tails, with no fin on their upper back. Sea cows also have paddle-like flippers and an odd head shape. They have large mouths, and have nostrils near the front of the head. Their ears and eyes are located on the side of their heads. Sea cows live in the shallow warm water located in Western Australia. Western Australia ranges from Shark bay Marine Park all the way to Moreton Bay. The estimated population of sea cows is about 8000, and Shark Bay Marine Park has the grandest population of sea cows in the world with more than 1000 living in the bay. In most areas sea cows are reserved and protected. Sea cows eat sea grass, located in shallow water from 1-5 meters deep, but can also feed on sea grass in depths of 20 meters. Sea cows use their flippers to walk along the bottom of the sea and dig up the grass. When they pull the sea grass out, the sea cows shake their head to get the dirty sand out of the grass. Sea cows are know to eat about 50 kilograms of sea grass each day. Sea cows have many predators including crocodiles, killer whales, and sharks. Besides these predators another main threat to sea cows are humans. Many reported

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