As the only mammalian herbivore that is strictly marine, the dugong has many unusual but poorly understood features. Life in the oceans imposes a series of stresses on all marine mammals.
Their vital organs and basic physiological functions are essentially similar to those of other mammals yet swimming and diving in an aquatic habitat call for a number of functional adaptations (Andersen,1%9).
As a herbivore eating seagrasses, the dugong has in addition, to cope with a diet high in soluble salts without access to fresh water.