Where to see the Dugong

Dugong dugon · mammal · Dugongidae

Dugong (Dugong dugon) is recorded in 146 protected areas and wildlife sites across 4 countries in our database. The places with the strongest evidence are Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (Australia), Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Australia) and Moreton Bay Marine Park (Australia).

146places

4countries

See all places on the map

Where is the best place to see the Dugong?

Based on GBIF records and our guides, the best-documented places to see the Dugong are Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (Australia), Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Australia) and Moreton Bay Marine Park (Australia). Most sites are in Australia (142), Thailand (2) and India (1).

Top 25 places for the Dugong

#	Place	Country	GBIF records	Years	Evidence
1	Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area	Australia	3,467	1957–2023	Recorded on GBIF
2	Great Barrier Reef Marine Park	Australia	3,314	1957–2023	Recorded on GBIF
3	Moreton Bay Marine Park	Australia	3,022	1981–2023	Recorded on GBIF
4	Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park	Australia	2,964	1957–2023	Recorded on GBIF
5	Moreton Bay Marine Park (IUCN Cat IV Parts)	Australia	2,075	1981–2023	Recorded on GBIF
6	Moreton Bay Marine Park (IUCN Cat II Parts)	Australia	1,379	1983–2016	Recorded on GBIF
7	Moreton Banks Fish Habitat Area	Australia	1,344	1992–2016	Recorded on GBIF
8	Myora - Amity Banks Fish Habitat Area	Australia	1,076	1992–2016	Recorded on GBIF
9	Great Sandy Marine Park	Australia	933	1969–2016	Recorded on GBIF
10	Hervey Bay - Tin Can Bay Dugong Protection Area	Australia	797	1969–2016	Recorded on GBIF
11	Thuwathu/Bujimulla Indigenous Protected Area sea country	Australia	500	1976–2007	Recorded on GBIF
12	Yanyuwa (Barni - Wardimantha Awara) Indigenous Protected Area	Australia	297	1966–2021	Recorded on GBIF
13	Cleveland Bay - Magnetic Island Dugong Protection Area	Australia	273	1969–2019	Recorded on GBIF
14	Torres Strait Dugong Sanctuary	Australia	265	1987–2013	Recorded on GBIF
15	Ngulun (Starcke River) Fish Habitat Area	Australia	238	1984–2019	Recorded on GBIF
16	Girringun Indigenous Protected Area sea country	Australia	201	1981–2020	Recorded on GBIF
17	CPZ02	Australia	199	1992–2016	Recorded on GBIF
18	Wuthathi Indigenous Protected Area sea country	Australia	194	1985–2019	Recorded on GBIF
19	Shoalwater Bay Dugong Protection Area	Australia	184	1975–2016	Recorded on GBIF
20	Anindilyakwa Indigenous Protected Area sea country	Australia	183	1984–2022	Recorded on GBIF
21	Limmen Bight Marine Park	Australia	180	1984–2019	Recorded on GBIF
22	Hinchinbrook Island Area Dugong Protection Area	Australia	161	1981–2020	Recorded on GBIF
23	Princess Charlotte Bay Fish Habitat Area	Australia	153	1966–2019	Recorded on GBIF
24	Cleveland Bay Fish Habitat Area	Australia	142	1975–2019	Recorded on GBIF
25	Silver Plains Fish Habitat Area	Australia	140	1985–2019	Recorded on GBIF

121 more places in the interactive map.

By country

Australia: 142, Thailand: 2, India: 1 and Vietnam: 1.

In our guides

Read the full species account in our Sulawesi guide, Singapore guide, Malaysia guide, India guide.

Take it with you

Build a free printable field guide or e-book for any of these places, with photos and a checklist.

Make a field guide for Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

Photo: (c) Wynand Uys, some rights reserved (CC BY), CC BY 4.0.

GBIF downloads: Australia, India, Vietnam, Thailand.

Data last updated 2026-11-05. Species–place links come from GBIF occurrence downloads (GBIF.org) matched to protected-area boundaries from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) and other open boundary sources, plus places listed by our own guides. Record counts are what has been reported to GBIF, not population sizes. Reptiles and amphibians are never shown at park level. How this database works · Data sources and limits.