'Handsome man of the sea' dies

'Handsome man of the sea' dies

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (right) feeds ‘Jamil’, a three-month-old baby dugong found stranded on a beach in Krabi province, in a nursing pool at the Marine Biological Centre in Phuket province early last month. It died on Thursday night. (Photo by Achadtaya Chuenniran)
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (right) feeds ‘Jamil’, a three-month-old baby dugong found stranded on a beach in Krabi province, in a nursing pool at the Marine Biological Centre in Phuket province early last month. It died on Thursday night. (Photo by Achadtaya Chuenniran)

Baby dugong Jamil died on Thursday night despite vets' efforts to save him, the fourth of the marine mammals to die in a week and the 17th this year.

The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources said the three-month-old male dugong died at the Phuket Marine Biological Centre at 9.43pm after suffering from shock and resuscitation attempts failed.

Earlier, veterinarians removed seagrass clogging its stomach and intestines at Vachira Phuket Hospital and brought it back to the biological centre.

The department expressed regret for failing to save Jamil and another baby dugong Marium that died last Saturday.

Government spokesperson Narumon Pinyosinwat also mourned the deaths and called them losses of Thai maritime resources. She urged people to help protect marine resources.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, deputy dean of Kasetsart University's Faculty of Fisheries, wrote that with the death of Jamil, the country lost four dugongs in the past six days and 17 this year. He called for an effective plan to protect the marine mammals.

Jamil had developed stiff abdomen on Monday night. Veterinarians found that seagrass did not move in its digestive tract. This caused inflammation and gas which made the wall of its intestines thinner, broke its blood vessels and caused infection.

Jamil was found washed ashore in Krabi province on July 1. Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya named it Jamil, meaning "handsome man of the sea" in the Yawi language. The princess took Jamil and Marium under her royal patronage.

(Video of Jamil by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources)

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