— and on medium to large female 
green turtles. 
Dugong and turtle hunting is a ma- 
jor activity for many men, and meat 
from these animals provides the most 
important and dependable source of 
protein to villagers in several island 
communities. Although all men con- 
sider themselves seamen, not all are 
hunters. A real hunter is called a buai 
garka (literally, “male family head”). 
In any dugong- or turtle-hunting party 
he is the leader, the harpooner, and 
the one who makes all the decisions. 
A buai garka is a respected person. 
“He knows how to hunt, how to find 
dugong, how to spear.” It takes a long 
period of training and experience to 
become a good hunter. One has to 
master a complicated body of knowl- 
edge that includes the animals’ be- 
havior, the precise times and places 
to hunt, the difference between var- 
ious types and qualities of animals, 
and the way to get close enough to 
a dugong or turtle to harpoon it. 
Teen-agers start by going along as 
crew to help paddle and to pull har- 
pooned animals alongside the dinghy. 
During the hunt, the buai garka will 
usually tell them about tides and 
dugong and turtle behavior. But to 
teach how to harpoon and to have 
luck is the role of one of a boy’s moth- 
er’s brothers ( audi ). When the novice 
is strong enough to handle a fourteen- 
foot harpoon, he is taken out for les- 
sons. The first dugong that he catches 
is given to his audi. In addition, the 
boy’s parents must provide a selection 
of gifts for the audi to choose from. 
The training and hunting relationship 
between a boy and his mother’s 
brother conforms in structure and na- 
ture to traditional initiation rites that 
were discouraged many years ago by 
missionaries. 
As much of the hunting takes place 
in turbid water conditions during the 
northwest season and at night during 
the southeast season, the hunters must 
rely on several clues to find their sub- 
merged prey: floating sea grass up- 
rooted by dugongs as they feed; milky 
white sand and silt clouds in the water 
made by dugongs as they uproot the 
grasses; floating excreta; and wakes, 
swirls, and bubbles on the surface. 
The animals can be easily seen when 
they surface for air, but to get within 
harpoon range, the hunter must es- 
timate the drift rate of his boat, an- 
ticipate the feeding interval time, and 
be able to distinguish the dark form 
of a submerged dugong from rocks, 
coral heads, and feeding turtles. He 
must also make sure that the animal 
is not a wati dangal, which has a 
thinner shape, more prominent back- 
bone ridge, and rougher-appearing 
head than a good dugong. If he under- 
or over-estimates drift speed and di- 
rection or submerged feeding inter- 
vals, the dinghy will be too far away 
to use the harpoon. If he mistakenly 
harpoons a bad dugong, the entire ef- 
fort has been a waste of time, and 
the noise from the struggling animal 
will frighten off" other dugongs in the 
area. 
Even with the proper training and 
experience, a hunter is far from as- 
sured that he and his crew will get 
a good dugong or turtle. Much de- 
pends on luck. Bad luck in hunting 
can be caused by people in the village 
Green sea turtles are not as 
desirable to the hunters as dugongs, 
but more turtles are taken because 
they are easier to catch, above. 
Females are sought because the 
males are considered poor tasting. 
The meat from green sea turtles and 
dugongs provides the bulk of the 
protein intake for many villages in 
the Torres Strait. Hawksbill turtle 
eggs, right, provide a supplement to 
the Islanders' primary diet. 
60 
