Dugong found stranded on Kinka Beach, Yeppoon
When rangers returned to a Queensland beach to check for a dugong stranded yesterday, they got a pleasant surprise.
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Wildlife rangers were on Wednesday unable to find a stranded dugong discovered on a Yeppoon beach on Tuesday afternoon.
But it is not bad news, a Department of Environment and Science spokesman has assured.
He said after they received a report of an injured dugong on Kinka Beach on Tuesday afternoon, rangers went to the beach to check on the mammal.
The spokesman said the dugong seemed fine to rangers and although it did have marks and scratches, none appeared to be recent.
“Rangers returned to the site this morning and it was not there,” he said.
“It’s a case of a happy ending.”
Desperate Yeppoon locals were frantically trying to help the dugong stranded on Kinka Beach on August 20.
It is not known how the large mammal became stranded, but some people posted on social media that it had beached itself.
The dugong remained stranded as the tide came in the early evening.
The DES spokesman said dugong strandings were rare.
At 6.07pm this publication photographed the dugong - by this stage there were no onlookers remaining at the scene.
Yeppoon Veterinary Surgery posted on social media about 3.30pm that it had contacted DES, but the number had rung out and it left a message.
It said they also left a message with Queensland Parks and Wildlife.
Michelle Strybos posted to the Yeppoon Community Noticeboard about 4pm that they were keeping the dugong wet and covered with towels and buckets.
“He is a long way from the water so a bit of a wait for him till the tide turns they are hopefully sending someone out,” she posted.
“He seems to have some fresh cuts on him from a boat. We are doing all we can!”
About 4.30pm, the vet surgery posted that rangers had arrived.
The DES spokesman thanked the person who reported the stranded dugong.
He said people could report encounters and sightings of sick, injured or orphaned animals and mammals on the QWildlife app or by calling 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625).
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