tide periods. Since most hunting takes 
place in water two fathoms or less 
in depth, the large tidal range alter- 
nately opens and closes vast hunting 
areas. When strong winds coincide 
with fast tidal currents, the water be- 
comes turbid and underwater visibility 
is often no more than three feet. 
Dugongs appear to prefer turbid 
water, which by making detection dif- 
ficult offers them protection. 
The southeast trade wind season, 
from about May through September, 
is the time of little rain, clear skies, 
gusting and heavy winds, and mod- 
erate to rough seas. Low tides and 
scattered animals make hunting dur- 
ing the day difficult. It is better at 
night when the high tides bring 
dugongs and green turtles to the reefs 
and island margins. A two-month-long 
period of calm weather follows, with 
light north winds, dead-calm sea, and 
good hunting conditions, both at night, 
when the herbivores can be spotted 
by trailing streams of biolumines- 
cence, and during the day, when they 
can be easily seen in the clear waters. 
The rainy season lasts from December 
through April. This is the northwest 
monsoon season; frequent squalls, 
storms, and heavy winds often pre- 
clude distant hunting ventures. But 
there are many days of calm, and due 
to daytime high tides, hunting is gen- 
erally much better than in the south- 
east trade wind season. The most fa- 
vorable, but difficult, hunting con- 
ditions occur when a northwest storm 
lashes the reefs, driving large numbers 
of dugongs into leeside island shelter 
where they feed in the turbid water. 
Dugongs live in loose social 
groupings whose size fluctuates pe- 
riodically, depending on reproductive 
behavior, food supply, environmental 
conditions, local- and long-distance 
movements, and hunting pressure. 
Most dugongs we observed traveled 
in pairs — adult female and male or 
mother and calf — and in small groups 
of fewer than ten that included young, 
sexually mature, and old animals. 
Herds of more than twenty are rarely 
seen in the Torres Strait except when 
small groups gather together to shelter 
from a storm. At least some dugongs 
(called malu dangal, or “deepwater” 
dugong, by the Islanders) appear to 
travel long distances seasonally and 
may be migratory. Other dugongs 
seem to reside in large reef and island 
margin territories. 
Even though dugongs are hunted 
year-round in the western Torres 
Strait, they are still numerous, prob- 
ably as a result of protective legis- 
lation, possible recruitment of animals 
from even more isolated populations, 
frequent moves to reefs too distant 
for the hunters, and reduced hunting 
pressure due to post-World War II 
Islander emigration to the mainland 
(to seek employment and education). 
Around Hammond, Thursday, Moa, 
Badu, and Mabuiag islands, dugongs 
have been so abundant recently that 
they have clear-grazed extensive 
areas, causing Islanders to complain 
about the reduction of grass-habitat 
fish. 
Of the four species of sea turtles 
found in the Torres Strait, only the 
green turtle is hunted with any reg- 
ularity; the hawksbill, loggerhead, and 
the endemic Australian flatback are 
seldom hunted or eaten. Green turtles 
exhibit complex daily and seasonal 
movements that redistribute their 
numbers in and among foraging areas. 
They also make periodic migrations 
to nesting beaches — Bramble Cay at 
the northern edge of the Great Barrier 
Reef and Raine Island farther south. 
Nesting cycles overlap and probably 
occur at two-, three-, and four-year 
intervals; these may be influenced by 
ecological factors. Despite hunting 
pressures there are still large herds 
of green turtles in the Torres Strait, 
and this area, along with the rest of 
the waters off the Queensland coast, 
makes up what is perhaps the most 
important green turtle territory in the 
world. 
In 1976, we began studying how 
the Islanders perceive and categorize 
the marine environment, and how their 
concepts correspond to the behavioral 
ecology of dugongs and sea turtles 
and influence hunting patterns. Local 
names for marine biota, features, 
places, and marine conditions were 
taught to us by the hunters during 
trips at sea. What began to emerge 
was a complex and detailed taxonomy. 
For miles around, the Islanders’ un- 
derwater world is seen as clearly as 
if it were dry and readily open to 
view. There are names for large and 
small reefs, even for coral heads, 
dugong “scratching rocks,” shoals and 
sand bars, shallow and deep areas, 
narrow, twisting passages or channels 
through reefs, sea-grass feeding areas, 
and various zones on the reefs where 
particular fish, crayfish, turtles, and 
dugongs can be found. The Islanders 
have a detailed, logically consistent 
system of knowledge and theory that 
integrates human and natural spheres 
into one ecological unit and permits 
them to make pragmatic hunting de- 
cisions in an oscillating marine en- 
vironment. 
A detailed and exacting classifica- 
tion system for marine features and 
biota is to be expected from a sea- 
faring people. But it is in the under- 
standing of tides and associated 
dugong and green turtle behavior that 
Torres Strait Islanders excel. Accord- 
ing to the hunters, “Everything move 
on tide — fish, turtle, dugong. Every- 
thing. You have to know these 
things — these tides.” We were taught 
more than eighty terms for different 
tides and tidal and water conditions. 
A few examples should give an idea 
of the complexity of their perception 
of tides and associated water condi- 
Butchering is a complex process, 
as well as a highly social event. 
Lines are sliced into the dugongs 
hide to serve as cutting guides, 
above. At least forty-five different 
cuts of meat can be carved from a 
dugong. After the harpooner, his 
crew, and his mother’s brothers 
receive their favorite pieces, other 
households in the village share what 
remains. This distribution of free 
meat brings prestige to the hunter. 
The bounty of the hunt is often 
cooked right on the beach, right. 
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