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KOTA KINABALU: Lisa Poroting went to work on Wednesday morning thinking it would be just another usual day for her as a stand-up paddleboard (SUP) guide.
However, it turned out to be an eventful outing for her as one of her wishes would come true that morning – all because she got to “swim” with a dugong.
While paddling back to the Borneo Paddle Monkeys, a paddleboarding centre at Tanjung Aru beach here, she said she suddenly spotted something in the water at about 10.30am.
“At first I thought it was a dolphin. But at a closer look, I saw that it was a dugong. I couldn’t stop screaming (in excitement),” she said in an interview on Thursday (March 14).
“I immediately whipped out my handphone and took videos of the creature.
“I’ve seen sharks before so I wanted to see something different.
“I was so thrilled to see a dugong in person because sightings of the animal in the wild are very rare,” said Poroting, who has been working as a part-time SUP guide at the centre since last September.
She said her boss and another workmate were also with her when she saw the marine mammal, adding they were just coming back from training new staff.
“The animal was swimming about 100m from the shore. I would have gone for a real swim with it if I had my snorkelling mask.
“I heard that dugongs are only spotted at Pulau Mantanani (off Sabah’s northern Kota Belud district) so that’s why I feel lucky to have sighted the animal at Tanjung Aru.
“I’m pretty sure it was a dugong, it was pinkish in colour and was very cute and friendly. I spent some 20 minutes with it before it swam off,” said Poroting, 45.
She posted photos and videos of her encounter on Facebook and it quickly garnered attention among the online community.
Marine biologist Dr Nicolas Pilcher confirmed it was in fact a dugong which Poroting sighted.
“The images (taken by Poroting) are clear to this,” said the Marine Research Foundation executive director.
Poroting claimed she made another sighting on Thursday morning, adding it looked different to the dugong she spotted the previous day.
“I did not manage to take any photo or video to prove it.
“But no matter, I am going out to find the animal again tomorrow and film them,” she said.
She added that it was not advisable to touch dugongs.
“And it is better to be on a paddleboard or kayak to see dugongs. This is for the animal’s safety as water scooters or boats could hurt the animal,” she said.
