The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea have long had a dugong origin legend that begins with a mother taking great offense when her brother used profanity towards her daughter. Holding hands, mother and daughter walked into the sea until their grass skirts floated loose and spread over the sea as they were transformed into dugong and calf. As recently as 40 years ago, dugong hunters threw grass skirts so that dugongs, thinking they were those left on the water in the legend, would be unafraid and easier to capture. When a dugong was caught, hunters would cover the nostrils with the grass skirt until it suffocated.
Dugongs have historically been an important food and oil source to tribal people along the coasts of the western Pacific to East Africa and the hunting of dugongs, going back thousands of years, includes rigid traditions and prescribed social rituals. Torres Strait Islanders butcher a dugong in precise fashion, recognizing over four dozen various cuts which are distributed to members of their communities according to stature and social standing.
Where dugongs are regularly hunted they tend to feed close to shore only late at night, which would indicate that they have some good sense despite the very small size of their brain, which is about 300 gms (as opposed to dolphins at about 1700 gms and humans approximately about 1450 gms.). (Now, on my bucket list for this class, is to read some research articles on the relationship between intelligence and brain mass ratio.)
-The dugong (Dugong Dugon) is a large marine mammal and is the only member of the family Duongidae. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. First classified as Trichechus dugon by German zoologist, Philipp Muller in 1776 these beautiful m...
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...arine Park. Dr. Marsh has contributed widely to interdisciplinary solutions to conservation problems of the dugong. Web: http://www.helenemarsh.com/
-Further reading:
-De-colonising Conservation? Traditional use of marine resources, agreements and dugong hunting in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area Paul Havemann,Dominique Thiriet, Helene Marsh, Craig Jones (2005) http://www.helenemarsh.com/publications/JournalPapers/2005/Havemann%20et%20al%202005%20Env.%20and%20...Ecology and Conservation of the Sirenia: Dugongs and Manatees
-Ecology and Conservation of the Sirenia: Dugongs and Manatees. Helene Marsh, Thomas J. O'Shea, John E. Reynolds III. Cambridge Univ. Press (2011)
-Prioritizing areas for dugong conservation in a marine protected area using a spatially explicit population model, Grech, A and Marsh, H 2007 http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/2678/
15. Magers, Vince. Ichthyology’s Golden Age. Missouri Conversationist, Volume 60, Number 9, Sept 1999. http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/conmag/1999/09/6.html
Rubensteina, D.R., Rubensteinb, D.I., Shermana, P.W., Gavic T.A., 2006. Pleistocene Park: Does re-wilding North America represent sound conservation for the 21st century? Biological conservation 132, 232-238.
The efforts taking place through different conservation organizations and the State of Florida are making a mixed impact on the survival of Manatees and Sea Turtles. The decline in manatee population has decreased, but due to low reproduction rates, more needs to be done to avoid extinction. The sea turtle outlook is more species specific. Some species of turtle are seeing stabilization in population, while others are not. The State of Florida has a large array of custom license tags that support the conservation efforts taking place within the State. The proceeds go to benefit the local marine life in Florida. With financial resources, state and local cooperation, and through constant research and observation, we are able to learn more about both of these gentle animals. With human awareness of those living in Florida, these two animals will survive
Whale hunting has been a way of life for the Makah Tribe for more than 2000 years. They have traditionally depended on the whale meat to survive as well as they have utilized the whales blubber and oil. The dependence on whale hunting has caused the whale to be an integral part of the Makah culture. The whale is in their songs, dances, designs and basketry. It has given them a disciple and pride in their tribe. Yet for the past seventy years the Makah has been prevented from hunting due to the gray whale, the whale they hunt, being on the endangered list. In 1994 the gray whale was removed form the endangered list opening the possibility of the Makah Tribe to hunt again. Yet this possibility has caused anti-whaling organizations to protest to the killing of the gray whale. A heated debate between the Makah tribe and anti-whaling organizations over the subject of whale hunting has ensued.
McLendon, Russell. "10 of the Most Endangered Whales on Earth." MNN. N.p., 23 June 2010. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Manatees are loved by many Floridians. Manatees are known as one of the state’s natural wonders. They were once marked as one of the endangered mammals in Florida. The federal government considers a species endangered when it is at risk of extinction. Therefore, the federal government is downlisting manatees from “endangered” to “threatened.” The manatees are now downgraded from endangered to just threatened, the level of protection for the manatees are also reducing. Since the federal government has spoken out that manatees are no longer endangered, does it decrease the risk of manatees being extinct?
In this short essay Bill Daly begins by telling us that he will be assessing arguments to keep marine parks open and he will be point out reasons why they actually don’t carry any weight. The overall conclusion that daily made in this essay was that marine parks should no longer be kept open because they are useless and in some ways can be considered to be animal cruelty or no new animals should be captured for their uses. In the essay I found that there were four major premises that can clearly be found. The first major premises can be found in the second paragraph, where it says that ‘there are many more locations where the marine life can be found naturally compared to marine parks’ (Bill Daly, para 2). The second premise was located in the third paragraph, where the Daly tells us the ‘by moving the marine life out of its natural habitat we are affecting their behaviour and making any research that is conducted on them unreliable when it comes to their natural behaviour’ (para 3). The third major premise that I found was in the fourth paragraph, where it says that the ‘parks could be considered tourist attractions but a majority of tourists come to see wildlife in its natural habitat and not in cages’ (para 4). The fourth and final premise that I found was in the fifth paragraph, in this paragraph Daly says that ‘the parks can be cruel to the animals they hold because they put a restriction the freedom they would normally have in the wild’ (para 5). In the end I believe that Daly has created a good inductive argument against the use and creation of marine parks.
Whaling and whales have remained central to Makah culture. They are in their songs, dances, designs, and basketry. Their social structure is based on traditional whaling families. The conduct of a whale hunt requires rituals and ceremonies, which are deeply spiritual. And they believe hunting imposes a purpose and a discipline, which they believe, will benefit their entire community, especially the young, whom the Makahs believe to be suffering from lack of self-discipline and pride.
Shirihai, H. and B. Jarrett (2006). Whales, Dolphins and Other Marine Mammals of the World. Princeton, Princeton University Press. p.185-188.
These four studies evaluated the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) as the primary tool for conservation efforts. Within Fox’s study he identifies four components that increase a MPA’s effectiveness, all of which focus on bringing together the goals of the governing bodies involved, as well those of the locals who rely on the marine systems in question for resources. The research presented by Edgar and his team presents similar findings as they identify five factors that have shown to increase the success of MPAs after they studied 87 different MPA locations. In addition to identifying the key factors that contribute to MPA success, they also identify some factors that lead to MPA failure. Halpern’s study focuses on the limitations of MPA networks and the broader scope issues that need to also be addressed in order to for MPAs to be truly effective. Halpern and his team suggest that an EBM approach may be the best solution for addressing these issues. Chuenpagdee’s research also highlights the challenges and issues surrounding the implementation of effective MPAs. The study included an in-depth look into four case studies that focused on the design stages of MPAs, and the social issues that must be taken into consideration, and how the incorporation of local communities into management efforts could lead to increases in MPA network success and sustainability. The compilation of data presented in these studies, all highlight the fact that nations are increasing the number of MPAs, in order to reach international goals of conservation, however even if the global area goals of protection are met, it is clear that the success of these protected areas will be heavily dependent upon the socioeconomic issues surrounding the impacted ...
The study area consisted of Latah and Benewoh in Idaho, USA. The research used a total of 105 sites to collect data; ranking the areas from lowest to highest elevation. The methods implemented in this research consisted of wetland sampling, mail survey and habitat modelling. The combined results allowed for better insight for the conservation of these species. The first section of the experiment consist...
... meat, blubber, bones and oil. Also, orcas hunt humpbacks in packs, especially when there is a newborn (Office of Protected Resources).
Stiling, Peter. Ecology: Theories and Applications. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.
For thousands of years, these affluent terrestrial vegetations have provided the habitat and patronage elements that were essential for the survival of the Papuan people. Accordingly, the vast majority of the Papuan people (87 ...
Preen, A., & Marsh, H. (1995). Response of dugongs to large-scale loss of seagrass from Hervey Bay, Queensland Australia. Wildlife Research, 22(4), 507-519.