![Above the Red Sea, but soon we'll be below it!](/images/touregypt/Redsea.JPG)
![The Dugong uses its powerful tail, not its flippers, to swim](/images/touregypt/dugong2.JPG)
The Dugong is one of only two vegetarian sea-going mammals (the other being the Manatee). The other sea mammals; seals, dolphins, and whales, are all carnivores. The Dugong's nickname of Sea Cow is well-deserved, for its favorite pastime is grazing on the thick beds of sea grasses.
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The Dugong is one of them. Also called the Sea Cow, the Dugong is not a fish, but a mammal. It is related to the elephant, and does look rather like a cow.
![A Dugong, or Sea Cow, and her calf welcome us to the Red Sea](/images/touregypt/dugong3.JPG)
The Dugong, and its close cousin the Manatee, have long been thought by zoologists to be the source of the mermaid legends. It is very common for female Dugongs to nurse their young while floating on their backs, and holding the calf in their armlike flippers. From a distance, the two Dugongs may resemble a fish-tailed woman holding a baby. Personally, I think any sailor mistaking the blubbery, walrus-like Dugong for a mermaid has obviously been at sea far too long.
![Though large and bulky, the Dugong is graceful under water.](/images/touregypt/dugong1.JPG)
The Dugong has become rarer and rarer over the years. For this reason, they are now a protected species all over the world, and hunting them is forbidden.
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