With reference to 'dugong', mammal found in India, which of the following statements is/are correct? Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Answer: (c) 1 and 3

Seagrass-eating and Schedule I are right; they live only in seagrass pockets.

Statement by statement

1. ✓ CORRECT Dugongs graze on seagrass — the only strictly marine herbivorous mammal.

2. ✗ WRONG In India they are found only where there is seagrass: Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, Gulf of Kutch, Andaman & Nicobar.

3. ✓ CORRECT They are in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act.

The idea

The dugong is the “sea cow”: a slow, gentle mammal that grazes on seagrass. Seagrass is a flowering plant that needs sunlight, so it grows only in shallow, calm, clear water. The dugong can live only where such meadows exist.

Shallow, sheltered, clear water → Seagrass meadow grows → Dugongs graze there → In India: Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannar, Gulf of Kachchh, Andaman and Nicobar

The trap

“Entire coast” sounds natural for a sea animal. Dugongs are tied to seagrass beds.

Elimination technique

Statement 2 says “the entire coast of India”. Absolute words usually mark the false statement in Environment PYQs. That removes (a) and (b).

Also know

The dugong is Vulnerable and breeds slowly, one calf every few years. Tamil Nadu notified India’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve in Palk Bay in 2022. Seagrass meadows also store carbon (blue carbon). The threats are fishing nets, boat strikes and loss of seagrass.