An endangered dugong found dead here is believed to be one of only three that had been confirmed in waters around the northern part of this southern island.

The bureau is monitoring the mammals, designated by the central government as a protected species, whose habitat could be affected by land reclamation work for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago, both in Okinawa Prefecture.

Okinawa is said to be the northernmost limit of the habitat of dugongs.

Environmentalists have argued that the relocation project would destroy their critical habitat and called for a halt to the land reclamation work.