Every sighting counts.

No research vessel gets as close as you do. Scientists spend months finding a single dugong – divers meet them every day. What used to vanish in dive logbooks now helps science.

The dugong is the only remaining species of the family Dugongidae. Its closest relative, Steller’s sea cow, was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. Today dugongs live in the shallow coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific – from the Red Sea via the Persian Gulf to Australia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List classifies the dugong as “Vulnerable” worldwide. The East African coastal population, which includes the Egyptian dugongs, is even considered “Critically Endangered”. However, because accurate population data are lacking, it is difficult to make a reliable assessment.

Dugongs feed almost exclusively on seagrass – and are gardeners of the sea themselves: their grazing promotes regrowth of meadows that are among the most effective carbon stores on Earth. When the seagrass goes, so do the dugongs.

AI-assisted image analysis recognises scars and injuries and re-identifies individual animals.

Dugongs communicate with melodic chirps, squeaks, barks and trills.

The name dugong comes from Malay: duyong – “lady of the sea” or “mermaid”.

A feeding dugong leaves long, clean furrows in the seagrass – visible even from a plane.

Citizen science means systematically involving volunteers in scientific data collection. DugongWatch brings this principle underwater: no research programme in the world can watch as many places at once as the diving community.

Dugongs are shy – and for divers and snorkellers one of the most extraordinary encounters underwater. With DugongWatch every sighting turns into a contribution to science. It’s easy – just use the app (available in 2027). Want to report a sighting right now? Send an email to info@dugongwatch.org.

1. Open the app and sign in. Open DugongWatch and sign up. Signing up takes less than two minutes and requires only a few contact details.
2. Tap “Report sighting” – the button is on the app’s home screen.
3. Date and time: pick the date of your sighting from the calendar and add the time if you know it.
4. Set the location: GPS automatically (“Use my location” – ideally right after the sighting), coordinates from your dive computer, or drop a pin on the map.
5. Describe the animal: Adult or calf? Did the animal look injured? How many animals did you see?
6. Upload a photo (recommended). Even blurry or dark shots are valuable – the AI can extract individual features from poor photos.
7. Comment (optional): behaviour, depth, anything unusual – every extra detail can help.
8. Submit. Tap “Submit sighting”. You get a confirmation and see your sighting on your personal map.

Dugongs are protected wild animals. These rules protect them – and help ensure they keep letting people come close. Draft – please review and complete before publishing.

Seen a dugong? Report place, time and photo – it takes under two minutes.

How to behave underwater – for animals and people.

The project depends on funding. Your donation keeps the database, app and analysis running.

Project news straight to your inbox.

DugongWatch is a project of aquatil gGmbH and depends on funding. Every donation pays for servers, AI image analysis and briefing material for dive centres. Donations go to aquatil gGmbH.

You will be redirected to the secure payment page of Stripe or PayPal.

Current campaign on GoFundMe

Prefer a bank transfer? aquatil gGmbH · Kreissparkasse Tübingen
IBAN DE84 6415 0020 0004 3672 20 · BIC SOLADES1TUB
For a German donation receipt please enter your name and address in the donation form.

Latest posts from Facebook and Instagram.

Be the first to hear about new sightings, research results and campaigns.