ultrasound examination, and in each case a medium to late-term foetus was identified. Endocrine analysis also supported pregnancy of these two females, with higher faecal progesterone levels (690 to 1,506 ng/g) compared to 57 to 85 ng/g progesterone in the other females sampled in 2008 and 2009, where levels > 400 ng/g indicate pregnancy (Burgess & Lanyon, unpub. data). The vital signs (THR) of these confirmed pregnant dugongs were not significantly different than those of other adult dugongs so are not considered separately hereafter.
Monitoring of Vital Signs
Oral Temperature—The surface water/air temperatures in Moreton Bay at the times of sampling were 19° to 19.5° C (mean 19.1° C) in 2008 and 21.5° to 22.3° C (mean 22° C) in 2009. Since annual differences in water temperature had a highly significant effect on oral temperature (single factor ANOVA: F1, 218 = 88.87; p < 0.001), sampled dugongs were considered in terms of two separate annual cohorts. In 2008, oral temperature of individual dugongs as they were initially brought onto deck ranged from 24° to 30.5° C. Final oral temperatures of dugongs just prior to release (and after periods of 30 to 50 min) ranged from 25° to 33.3° C. Mean oral temperature of all dugongs over the out-of-water period ranged from 25.2° to 32° C (mean ± SE 29.4° C ± 0.58). In 2009, oral temperature of individual dugongs as they were initially brought onto deck ranged from 26.9° - 32.5° C. Final oral