“The name means ‘handsome man of the sea’ in the Yawi language,” said Jatuporn Buruspat, Director-General of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, reports the Bangkok Post. (See report here.)
HRH Princess Sirivannavari also took Yamil, as well as “Mariam”, another young dugong that was found without her mother in Krabi, under her royal patronage.
Three-month-old Yamil was found earlier this week at a beach in Khlong Thom District in Krabi. Measuring just 1.1 metres long and weighing 20 kilogrammes, the baby dugong had six cuts to its body and abrasions on its back.
“Yamil’s condition has greatly improved. He has become stronger and started gaining weight,” said Mr Jatuporn.
Dugongs, large marine mammals that are similar to manatees, have been gaining public attention.
On April 26, the other dugong, Mariam, was found and rescued from Thueng Bay in Krabi's Muang District, he said.
Her name, Mariam, means “lady of the sea” in the form of Malay language used in Southern Thailand.
Mariam is now being taken care of in a no-hunting area on Koh Libong in Trang's Kantang district, which is full of sea grass and is known as a major habitat for dugongs, he said.
The popularity of the orphaned baby dugong, whose story went viral on social media, has prompted the start of a fund to rescue and protect dugongs called the Mariam Fund for Trang's Dugongs, said Mr Jatuporn.