Q Life Magazine Q Magazine December 2018 | Page 24
| Issue 5
| A dugong comes to the surface of the sea to breathe
Since the inception of the project, have there
been any significant findings?
We actually made an alarming discovery when we started
fieldwork – a significant number of dugongs were dying
and stranding on Qatar’s beaches. Fishing nets or ropes
impacted some of these animals – sadly, they became
entangled in them and drowned. So we hope to protect
them from these dangers.
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ExxonMobil Research Qatar, in
collaboration with Texas A&M
University at Galveston and with
support from Qatar’s Ministry of
Municipality and Environment, is
working on a major programme to
study the conservation of Qatar’s
dugong population.