Dugongs are related to the manatee, another sea mammal, and closely related to the land mammal, the elephant! And the adult bulls and sometimes the old cows of dugongs grow tusks, like that of the elephants, but smaller; and  the dugong female has its nipples ( small finger-like milk giving organs) near the front limbs (flippers), again like that of an elephant!!

Dugongs have been hunted for their meat, oil, skin, teeth (ivory tusks) and the bones for hundreds of years.

Dugongs are the largest of the grass-eating sea mammals.These large but timid slow-moving animals are also called ‘sea cows’ because they graze (eat grass) as the cows do.

a mermaid (imaginary creature)

The stories of mermaids (legendary or mythical creatures with the upper half of the body, a beautiful woman and the lower half, a large fish) may have been inspired by these slow moving dugongs which some times rest near the edge of water with their calves!

The sailors in olden days, mostly drunk, may have seen these animals resting on land and may have mistaken them for a woman with a fish tail in place of legs!

Though dugongs live in salt waters, they need fresh water for drinking now and then, and without the supply of fresh water some kinds may die.