“
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.
