The Ladies of the Sea

“Miss, naa na, Miss! Naa na!” An excited voice interrupted the lighthearted chat among me and the two friends I seldom see. Sensing the commotion down below, Lee, who had been feeling the aftermath of the long journey, was roused into action. While I, who had been merrily talking with my longtime friend, was carried away by the excitement.

Miss Em, who had been cheerfully chatting with Lee and me on top of the watchtower, was the one who heard the frantic call. Her eyes then changed from sparklingly jesting to shining excitement. She then darted to a bag and impatiently groped for something. Finding what she was looking for, she shoved into my chest a pair of binoculars.

Then, I understood. Our most awaited celebrity had appeared. I took the telescope and peeked through, knowing what to look for, but not where.

“Asa man? Asa na?” I excitedly asked. “Straight lang diri sa atong gi’atubangan.” I jumped, startled that a man’s voice invaded what had, until seconds ago, been a girls’ watchtower.

“Kanang brown diha nga nagsawum-sawum.” Felix, who had been frantically shouting to us from below, was so quick to climb up.

I maneuvered the binoculars, turning my head to the direction he indicated. Then I saw it: that little brown thing that moved with the wave. It was so visible in the vastness of the whole blue. I adjusted my telescope to have a larger view.

Meanwhile, Ems also maneuvered the camera she was holding in the hopes of capturing the moment in the lens. She earnestly adjusted every control she had known of the little machine without apparent success. She couldn’t see the mammal.

On the other hand, I finally caught a better and bigger view of our intermittent but most awaited visitor.

It was then that I understood the excitement and felt the exhilaration Ems had related to us that time she first told us with pride about her treasured dugong.

Aaaaahhh…I sighed with much satisfaction. It was worth the dust, the inconvenience of having to wake up very early in the morning, and the discomfort of the four hours of just sitting in the bus with the heat and humidity.

Ems, Lee, and I have been long time friends. Lee and I had been college classmates who never lost touch since. We met Ems at the University both Lee and I ended after having taught at other schools. Ems was in the same Division Lee was.

Two years later, Ems transferred to another University where she found this new love of her life. Though she was far, we kept in touch.

A year later, Lee and I decided to leave the University. Lee transferred to another school, while I tested my skills on entrepreneur.

During one of our get-together sessions, Ems told us about the dugong. At first, I thought she was talking about some character in a tv show since Ems now lived near the sea. Later, though, as she delightedly related to us her experiences, and her study about some sea creature, I realized she was really talking about the actual sea mammal that looked like a woman.

I never thought we had that nearby. I saw them only on tv, and never dreamed of ever seeing one, live.

So Lee and I excitedly told her we would visit her one day, to see her marine treasure. We had been planning the visit since that day Ems transferred to that province.

But then, we parted ways, and on we each went with our own life.

After the summer classes, Lee contacted me. She was free to do as she pleased before the pressure of the next school year began. I told her, why not go visit Ems?

And then she said, 'Oh, yeah, why not indeed? Let’s go tomorrow.'

So on we went. In the morrow. No further ado. Not much preparation. No stopping to think about anything else except for the mission at hand: visit Ems and see that dugong she’d been bragging about.

Before the day broke, we were already boarding a bus to Malita. Now, over four hours after, we were standing at the crudely made watchtower, gazing at the sea mammals that were the pride of this municipality.

Dugong anecdotes

Peter, a resident of the very barangay where the dugongs were regular visitors, gave us a considerable number of dugong stories for us to take back home.

He said that the townsfolk never knew that the dugongs were unique to their place. They had used to think that dugongs were a common sight in every place where there’s water. Until one day, somebody saw it featured on tv how these creatures were actually rare and even endangered. They then realized how special these beings that they used to take for granted.

Before, when they were young, they used to fear the dugongs. They thought that these beings were harmful. Mothers used to frighten their children with dugongs to keep them from staying so late in the waters. Their elders used to scare them how dugongs would catch boys and rape them.

As boys were always boys, they used to test the truth of the myth.

During some special days, a diving tower (much like the watchtower we were staying in to watch the dugongs), would be built in the waters. The older boys would wait for the dugongs to appear, and they would jump into the sea creatures.

The younger boys, although scared, would brave themselves and follow suit. But then, when they were in the waters already, the older boys would shout, “Hala, naa na ang dugong, dakpon mo, reypon mo! Hala!” And then, all of them would swim their hearts out to the shore, using every ounce of strength they possessed. And they would reach the shore all spent and flat, but thrilled that they weren’t taken by a dugong. And they would try again another time, stretching how far they could go with the dugong.

During the ordinary days, they would just swim near the shore, a safe distance away from the dreaded creatures. Although they knew the dugongs were just there, the swimmers, particularly, children swimmers, would know that the dugongs would not come near the shore. They would feel safe enough.

The fishermen used to catch some of the dugongs for food. Peter claimed he was able to taste a dugong’s meat. It tasted like beef except that it had a fishy smell. But other than that, it made a good meal.

The Discovery

One day, some tourists and researchers arrived. They were looking for the dugong. And seemed to have been fascinated by the sea creatures.

And then, some really high-ranking officials visited the site. Then, everyone became excited and realized how rare and even endangered these species were. Since then, the townsfolk were given massive information campaign on the importance, the rarity and the way to deal with the dugong.

More serious researches were then done on these sea mammals. The watchtower we were staying now was a part of the research. It was a place to have a good sight of the dugong. Thus, the time and frequency of their visits, and the number in which they travel would be monitored. And people would have more idea on how to coexist with them. After all, both species—humans and dugongs—belong to one family, mammalia.