ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Pollution in the oil-rich Persian Gulf is threatening to kill off the mermaids.
``Unlike other sea animals, they`re virtually defenseless,`` said Anthony Preen, president of the Saudi Arabian Meteorology and Environment Protection Administration.
Preen was speaking of dugongs, the shy, retiring mammals that are widely believed to be the origin of the mermaid legend. An ideal environment -- warm, shallow waters and lots of sea grasses -- have made the Gulf home to one of the largest dugong concentrations in the world.
But that was before the sudden wealth triggered by the oil price explosions in the 1970s brought about a massive disruption of the rich marine life.
Oil spills, toxic wastes dumped by nearly 100 oil tankers and other vessels that ply the Gulf daily, plus land reclamation and dredging projects have made Gulf waters 47 times more polluted than any other area of the same size in the world.
``What makes matters worse is that the Gulf is almost a closed lake, with the Strait of Hormuz its only outlet,`` said Mustafa Tulba, executive director of the U.N. Program for Environment Protection.
Hundreds of dolphins, turtles, water snakes and other sea animals are killed each year by the high pollution.
A recent aerial survey estimated there were only 500 to 600 dugongs left in Gulf waters, concentrated mainly between the island of Bahrain and Qatar. Not long ago there were thousands.
Dugongs, according to the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Natural History group, are ``shy, retiring mammals, similar to the manatee, which grow up to 8 feet in length and give the appearance of being a cross between a large seal and a small whale.``
The first alarm was sounded in 1983 when nearly 40 dugongs were afflicted by a mammoth oil slick from Iran`s offshore oil field. The offshore rigs had been hit by attacking Iraqi war planes.