Less playful than dolphins and not as awesomely powerful as whales, dugongs have somehow failed to capture the popular imagination like their more dynamic cetacean brethren. But this endangered creature, found off the east coast of Okinawa's main island, may soon steal the limelight.
Experts estimate that around 100,000 dugongs exist worldwide, ranging from eastern Africa to Australia. In Japan, they have only been located around Okinawa Island — the northern limit of their habitat.
Most dugongs in Okinawa have been seen along the eastern coast near the Henoko district of Nago in the northern part of the island — the same area where the government plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' heliport now at the Futenma Air Station in Ginowan.