A 300kg sea cow that only eats lettuce is costing Sea Life Sydney Aquarium an eyewatering sum of $18,000 a month.

As the cost of living crisis worsens, lettuce has become a hot commodity, but while soaring prices have forced some fast food outlets to ditch the leafy green - one animal is chomping through thousands of dollars’ worth of it.

Sydney Sea Life Aquarium’s resident dugong ‘Pig’ eats 35kg of cos lettuce every single day – attracting a grocery bill of $18,000 per month.

“We were once upon a time paying $7,200 we are now currently paying $18,000 a month,” Senior Dugong Keeper Dayna Plater told Sky News Australia’s Chris Kenny.

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“We did go through a trial-and-error process when he first came into care and unfortunately this animal here only likes the most expensive lettuce we have.”

Lettuce prices have skyrocketed in recent months due to flooding in New South Wales and Queensland making a range of lettuce crops unviable.

A combination of rising fuel costs, wage increases, and inflation have also contributed to the rise in cost.

Ms Plater said keepers feed Pig one tray of the leafy green vegetable every ten minutes, allowing the 300kg dugong to graze throughout day.

In the wild, dugongs usually feed on massive amounts of sea grass, however, Ms Plater said the aquarium was forced to put Pig on a substitute diet.

“The dugong naturally eats what we call sea grass but unfortunately it is critically endangered in Australia and it means our dugong has to live on a substitute diet of cos lettuce,” she said.

Despite skyrocketing lettuce prices Ms Plater said the aquarium isn’t looking into switching to any alternatives.

“We are not looking for an alternative here, we are always going to try the best opportunity to give this animal what is required and what he needs,” Ms Plater said.

“Pig is a VIP – a very important pig, so he’s always going to get the best of the best.”

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