Odorr (Dugong) Family by Russel Davey

My design is a family of odorr (dugong) swimming through the water. In the old days, men would go hunting and would see the dust, and know it was a dugong feeding on the reef. It’s different from a stingray's dust.

Dugongs come in and out of our waters depending on the season. They hang around for about three months; then when the whales come in, the dugongs move on out. At the same time the turtles start mating.

Traditionally they would go out hunting dugong on rafts - today we go out on dinghy, and spear them with a big jarraja (harpoon spear). We make the spears from wongai (wattle) or woolleybutt.

Traditional way is the best for cooking dugong - in the ground. It’s a bit like pork; so you can roast it, boil it, stirfry it, or make stews out of it!