Elwyn James Mann has pleaded not guilty in Mackay court to unlawfully killing two dugongs at Clairview in July 2018

It has been more than three years since the bodies of two slaughtered sea cows were discovered by shocked residents.

Elwyn James Mann has pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing two dugongs at Clairview in 2018.

A hearing for a man accused of unlawfully killing two dugongs has been pushed until Tuesday.

The two-day court case had been listed to start Monday but was adjourned because the man’s legal representative was unavailable.

It is alleged Elwyn James Mann used a boat to go into a Great Barrier Reef Marine Park on July 21, 2018 to fish, hunt, take and/or possess a natural or cultural resource to which he was not permitted.

It is further alleged he removed two dugongs from waters near Clairview and Flock Pigeon Island coastal area conservation park.

He is charged with entry or use for a prohibited purpose – taking of natural or cultural resources under the Marine Parks Act, to which he has pleaded not guilty in Mackay Magistrates Court.

The alleged incident only came to the attention of the Department of Environment and Science investigators in August 2019.

Dugongs are listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation Act and as a protected species under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations.

If convicted the maximum penalty is a fine totalling $400,350.