Meet the Thai actor who helped make a baby sea cow an internet star

(CNN) – Marium, an orphaned baby dugong, is internet famous in Thailand. The docile ocean mammal was spotted without a mother near the coast of Krabi, a popular beach destination in Southern Thailand, in April. Images of her nuzzling marine biologists, who are now tasked with feeding motherless Marium up to 15 times a day, went viral.

Part of a social campaign to raise awareness about the threatened creatures was Thai actor and conservationist Alex Rendell, who posted about Marium on Instagram. He saw the baby by chance on a boat trip with some students from his foundation, Environmental Education Center Thailand (EEC), which teaches kids about conservation through camping.

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