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| (Stock photo from the internet) |
New Caledonia is known for its population of dugongs – which is a walrus-like animal that looks like the manatees of Florida. Since arriving a month ago, we’ve kept our eyes pealed for the elusive animal. Finally we spotted one yesterday in the distance as it flipped its tail up to dive under. That was quite exciting. Then this morning while I was kayaking, I saw a large brown lump in the water. I peddled over and quietly came upon the spot and there it was – a five foot long, brown dugong with a girth of a dolphin floating about a foot below the surface. He came alongside my kayak within two arm lengths of me and we eyed up each other. The water was crystal clear and, being down so low in the kayak, I had a very good view of him. He spanned more than half the length of my ten foot kayak and there were two remorays (fish that suck onto larger fish) swimming around and clinging to him. Once he came up and took a breath, glanced my way and sleepily sank back down. The sound of his snort startled me at first but it was such a gentle movement that it put me at ease. He seemed quite unbothered by our encounter and we stayed side by side for a couple minutes. If only I had had my camera!
