One of the oddest things I got to encounter in Abu Dhabi was a dugong. It was the first sirenian I saw in my life, and it was also a very dead one (this dugong is no more! It has ceased to be...)

My superiors had gone off for a walk, and returned saying that we (the two undergrad students, i.e. the cheap labor) ought to go see the dugong on the beach. It had been uncovered by the descending tide and was worth a look.

So we waded, squelched, and trudged our way out a surreal mudflat (one of several, actually) to see this dugong. There was a massive wound to its head - more like its face was gone - and it was on its back, bloating in the sun. It was simultaneously sad and beautiful, and, I'm afraid to say, a bit funny; I couldn't help likening it to a peeling baked potato. Yes, I have a strong stomach.

When we returned to the same site the next day, it had risen so far up the beach that we couldn't find it. It had even dug a shallow trench out as it had been dragged on the sand. Anyway, we reported it to competent authorities, and it was recorded and duly buried.

I still don't know killed it. Propellers don't do wounds like that, AFAIK... A shark, maybe?