A juvenile dugong carcass about 2 meters long was found floating near Bedok Jetty on June 6, 2026, marking Singapore’s first dugong record since 2021 [1, 2, 3, 4].
The carcass was initially spotted at around 4:50pm by 19-year-old Republic Polytechnic student Jeremy Mark Ang and his friends while fishing near East Coast Park. Ang said, “I really couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. It was quite sad because I know that they’re really rare, both in Singapore and in general” [1].
Later that evening, around 7:30pm, the carcass washed ashore further along East Coast Park beach and was found by passers-by Saachi Iyer and Naina Dadlani [1, 2, 3, 4]. Several children nearby tried unsuccessfully to pull it closer using fishing hooks [1, 2, 3, 4].
The dugong was identified as a juvenile by Marcus Chua, mammal curator at the NUS Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum. Chua noted, “Dugong sightings or strandings are rare in Singapore, and it is rather unfortunate as we would rather see them alive on our shores” [1, 2, 3, 4].
Plastic debris was observed wrapped around the carcass’s abdomen and tail. Ang added, “I felt even worse when I saw what appeared to be plastic wrapped around the animal’s abdomen and tail” [1, 2, 3, 4].
Dugong deaths in Singapore often result from vessel strikes and entanglement with fishing gear. Most strandings involve calves, reflecting a global trend of rising calf strandings [1, 2, 3, 4]. The previous known dugong record in Singapore was another carcass found off Pulau Hantu in 2021 [1, 2, 3, 4].
