The Environment Ministry will consider designating dugongs living in waters around Okinawa a rare domestic species, the environment minister said Friday.
Shunichi Suzuki told a regularly scheduled news conference that his ministry will consider the move following the discovery Jan. 31 of an adult dugong in the Pacific Ocean 1 km off Nago, on the northwestern corner of the main Okinawa island.
The gender of the dugong, which was spotted by researchers from a light plane, could not be confirmed, according to the ministry. The depth of the water in the area is about 15 meters.