Social media influencer races to save endangered species after developing unusual bond with manatee-like animal

One resident of Phuket city has spent over a year using a drone to monitor some of Thailand's rare dugongs and share them on social media, the Guardian reported.

"I feel a deep connection to these incredible creatures," said Theerasak Saksritawee, better known as Pop. "Dugongs are a vital part of my home."

Dugongs are large sea mammals similar to manatees. Like their cousins, they are gentle giants that eat seagrass and form a vital part of the ecosystem. 

Pop makes nearly daily visits to Tang Khen Bay, where a well-known dugong named Miracle has taken up residence.

"I see Miracle almost every day, although there have been times when I didn't spot him for as long as a month," said Pop.

Originally, there was a group of as many as 13 dugongs living in the area. However, Miracle appears to have chased the others away, except for a smaller female who died last year.

"I felt disappointed and heartbroken because she was one of my favourite dugongs," Pop told the Guardian. "The lady who makes the roti here cried."

Dugongs are critically endangered. Habitat loss, damage to their food sources, marine pollution (including plastics), and dangerous boat strikes all contribute to their declining population.

Thailand is one of the few places in the world that actually has a viable population of dugongs — around 273 individuals as of 2022, according to government estimates.

However, between 2019 and 2024, more than 100 dugongs died, similar to a mass manatee die-off in Florida. A fact-finding expedition in January 2025 concluded that the special sea grass they needed to eat had died off.

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There didn't seem to be just one factor behind the loss of the grass. Rather, the environment had been stressed by multiple factors, including higher temperatures, pollution, and silt in the water, blocking sunlight.

"This critical ecosystem is much more fragile than we have believed before," said Petch Manopawitr, an ecologist who advises Thailand's marine and coastal resources department about dugongs, per the Guardian. "We never really imagined we were going to lose such a vast area of seagrass — the last stronghold of seagrass in Thailand — in a very short period of time."

Manopawitr advocated for the creation of corridors that the dugongs could follow to search for food. Meanwhile, Pop is helping with education to protect these rare and amazing animals.

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