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What is a dugong? Check out these beautiful drawings of this hard-to-spot ocean creature
The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise has been at the Saya de Malha Bank in the Indian Ocean to map and research the wildlife of the region with an international team of scientists. The Saya be Malha Bank is the world’s largest seagrass meadow.
With the help of binoculars and hydrophones, they’ve been looking for whales, sharks, seabirds and turtles – with a very slim prospect of also seeing a dugong.
Seagrass meadows
Seagrass meadows cover less than 0.2% of the world’s seabed, but take up approximately 10% of the carbon buried in ocean sediment each year. On one hectare, seagrasses can store up to twice as much carbon as forests on land.
Have you heard of dugongs? They’re large marine mammals that are strictly vegetarian. They are one of only two vegetarian sea mammals (the other are manatees). Whilst manatees rely on freshwater, dugongs stick to the sea. Manatees have paddle shaped tails, but dugongs have streamlined tail fins like dolphins – making them better sea swimmers.
Because of their slow speed, and how slowly they reproduce, dugongs are more vulnerable to changes in their environment.
We asked illustrators to draw dugongs, to help show the world the precious sea life Greenpeace is campaigning to protect.
Tom Cole

Natelle Quek

Find Natelle Quek on Instagram and at natellequek.com.
Molly Lemon

Find Molly Lemon on Instagram.
Marcus Walters

Find Marcus Walters on Instagram.
Kristjana Williams

Find Kristjana Williams on Instagram.
Anna Süßbauer

Find Anna Süßbauer on Instagram.
Katherine Quinn

Find Katherine Quinn on Instagram.
Karla Hawkins

Find Karla Hawkins on Instagram.
Karen Obuhanych

Find Karen Obuhanych on Instagram.
Friederike Ablang

Find Friederike Ablang on Instagram.
Emma Jayne

Chloe Hall

Join the global art contest with your own oceans-inspired artwork
The Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise has been sailing through the Indian Ocean, to document the threats our oceans face, and put pressure on governments to protect them.
We need your help on this mission, to flood the internet with artworks of the beautiful and majestic creatures we want to save – from whales, to dugongs, sharks, dolphins and sea turtles.
Whether you’re a confident artist or just love to doodle, join our Draw The Oceans Challenge and post your art on Instagram using the hashtag #DrawTheOceans.