The Defense Facilities Administration Agency will conduct an aerial survey in Okinawa later this month of the habitat of the dugong, an endangered sea mammal found in waters near the planned construction site of a U.S. Marines heliport, agency officials said Tuesday.

The agency will conduct the survey in response to a request from Tateo Kishimoto, mayor of Nago, the proposed location of the new heliport.

It will submit the results of the survey to a government panel that is dealing with the controversial construction plan, which comprises the relevant ministers, the governor of Okinawa, the mayor of Nago and the mayors of a number of nearby municipalities, they said.