Dugong and Din

This Animal Planet-aired documentary calls attention to endangered marine life through a look at the relationship between an island boy and a sea creature. Eight-year-old Din, son of a fisherman, lives on the island of Mantanani (pop. 200) in the South China Sea. Din's people rely on the sea for their livelihood, but fishing hauls have been decreasing in recent years. When he's supposed to be at school, Din takes his canoe into the bay to commune with nature. One day he encounters a dugong (or seacow), and although initially wary, soon realizes that the 7-year-old male just wants to play. Narrated by actor Sean Pertwee, the film notes that dugongs are plant-eating mammals with poor eyesight but excellent hearing. Unlike their cousin, the manatee, dugongs can't survive in fresh water (since they have tusks, dugongs are also connected to elephants). Din's mentor, a boat builder, tells Din that dugongs date back thousands of years, and usually travel in packs. While grazing for sea grass for hours at a time, dugongs dislodge residue that helps to feed smaller animals. As Din spends more time with the dugong, they develop a rapport, although the latter's survival is also threatened by illegal fish bombing—explosions that also destroy coral beds, and make fishing more difficult for net-wielding islanders, such as Din's father. Just as the dugong disappears, Din's truancy catches up with him, but a happy ending awaits following the capture of the fish bombers and the return of fish to the bay. Recommended. Aud: E, I, P. (K. Fennessy)