The Massacre at Sexy Beach

Ronny with Macassan prau paintings at Dulumba Bay 1995

The Sexy People, so they say

Lived down at Dulumba Bay

Making love throughout the day

Refusing to just go away

Near the lake of dolphin dreaming

Full of barrumundi teaming

Echoes of lost people screaming

Sunbleached bones on beaches gleaming

The massacre the elders say

Took place at the break of day

But some they say got away

And live down there until today

Dulumba Bay is in the south east corner of Groote Eylandt. It is a remote and beautiful place that is rarely visited and almost never by outsiders. It was here at Sexy Beach on the shore of a magnificent turquoise coral lagoon that the Sexy People met their doom. “Why were the called the Sexy People?” “They made love constantly and openly on the beach and in the forest. They did not respect our moral code. They were bad people.”

The Sexy People were the mixed race descendents of traditional Groote Eylandt Aboriginals and visiting Macassan Trepang Fishermen. For over 600 years the Macassans would arrive in the dry season from Sulawesi in their prau’s to collect Sea Cucumbers also known as Trepang or Beche De Mer. After a few months they would leave with their prau’s loaded with tonnes of the smoked delicacy that they would trade to the Chinese. Today the Tamarind Trees around the ancient smoking pits and the ochre cave paintings of the Macassans and their praus are reminders of those days. The Macassans also left behind the hideous neurological Franz Josef genetic disease that continues to plague some Groote Eyland families.

It is difficult to know for sure when the massacre occurred but it wasn’t long ago. People I spoke to said that their grandfathers were involved and that it was a combined expedition of Elcho Island and Groote Eyland warriors. The bodies were apparently left where they fell and the bones remain on the beach to this day. This could be why people tend to avoid this haunted place. Legends abound of survivors whose descendents continue to live in the area. Not likely, but I guess possible as the place is uninhabited, heavily forested and riddled with caves. It is also a land of plenty with abundant food in the forest and the sea.

Amata Lake or Salt Lake is a land-locked tidal lake about 3 km inland from Dulumba Bay. This is the lake of Dolphin Dreaming into which giant Irrawaddi River Dolphins enter on the rising tide chasing fish through the limestone cave system connecting the lake to the sea. It was a great privilege to have been shown some of the wonders of this mysterious and inaccessible wilderness by the traditional owners.

Whaling

Can you hear the humpbacks singing?

Can you hear their mournful cry?

What tales are they bringing?

What dreams of times gone bye?

We need to kill more whales

To make a tasty dish

We need more meat for sales

It’s only just a fish

Have you seen the hump-backs playing

And felt your spirit soar?

Have you seen them breach and leap about

As you watched them from the shore?

Don’t listen to those Aussies

They kill kangaroos

Why are they so bossy?

We do what we must do.

It’s been a week of whaling controversy. First there was the trial in Japan of NZ anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune who has been in custody since February when he boarded a Japanese whaling ship in the Antarctic and then there was Australia’s decision to take Japan to the International Court of Justice in the Hague to bring an end to Japans so called “scientific whaling.” Emotions are running high in both Australia and Japan. Both countries view the issue of whales and whaling as symbols of national identity and sovereign rights. Australians are appalled that Japan continues to slaughter hump-back whales within Australian territorial waters and within the Southern Whale Sanctuary in particular. Most Australians view the Hump-back as a sacred animal, or close to it, with an intelligence close to that of humans and react to their killing as they would to the murder of a human being. The Hump-back Whale is also very important for Australia’s ecotourism industry. The Japanese on the other hand do not recognize Australian sovereignty over Australian Antarctic waters and view whaling as their traditional right. The fact that they have no tradition of modern whaling and particularly in the southern ocean is not seen as relevant. Comments by Japanese citizens that whales “are just a fish” and that “Australians kill kangaroo’s so what is the difference” demonstrate a profound national ignorance in Japan about the nature of the issue. They view attacks on their right to whale as an assault on their national pride and they falsely assume that opposition to Japanese whaling is being driven by anti-Japanese sentiment verging on racism. The depth of feeling can be intense as demonstrated by nationalist activists at the trial of Peter Bethune waving “hang the terrorist” placards. Most Australians visiting Japan or socializing with Japanese friends in Australia simply avoid discussing the issue.

Japan has a long history of whaling. Japans first emperor in the 7th Century, Jimmu, was partial to whale meat and whaling has been practiced in remote Japanese villages forever but with less than 1% of Japanese consuming whale meat until 1908 it is a stretch to see it as traditional. The ancient Japanese whalers additionally worshipped the whale as a god in their Kujira Jinga Shrines and killed them only as necessary for the survival of the village. The ancient Japanese would be appalled by the concept of modern commercial whaling.

The father of modern whaling in Japan was not, however, Japanese but US General Douglas MacArthur. He saw whaling as an economical way of feeding post war Japan and authorized 2 factory ships and 12 chasers in 1946-47. The US additionally provided $800,000 in fuel in return for $4 million worth of whale oil which is a pretty good return on investment. The Japanese were taught modern whaling by the Norwegians and in the peak year of 1962 harvested 226,000 tons of whale meat. Catches then gradually declined as whales were hunted to the point of extinction and the catch in 1985 was a mere 15,000 tons. The United States closed Alaskan waters to Japanese whalers in 1986 and there was a moratorium on commercial whaling. The Japanese in an effort to continue whaling exploited a loophole in the International Whaling Commission rules to allow whaling for scientific purposes and expanded their operations into the southern ocean. Scientific whaling is recognized everywhere as a joke but until this week it has not been legally challenged because deeming it illegal could result in Japan resuming uncontrolled commercial whaling and render the International Whaling Commission irrelevant. Australia’s move is therefore a dangerous one but with flawed protocols and decisions corrupted by many small IWC nations subject to economic coercion by Japan it is important to bring the issue to a head. The bigger and as yet unanswered question is how can the world bring powerful rogue nations like Japan to heel? There is Paul Watson’s Sea-Shepherd approach which has the advantage of keeping the issue in the spotlight but which unfortunately antagonizes the Japanese and hardens their stance. Proactive engagement is probably a better way. There are right winged nationalist hard-heads in Japan but Australia too has its fair share of these. The problem is one of politics and information. Only 11% of Japanese support whaling but on the other hand only 14% oppose it. Most Japanese don't even think about it. The irony of the whole debate is that demand for whale meat in Japan is low. In 2005 for example, 20% of the 4,000 ton haul of whale meat remained unsold as unwanted frozen surplus despite attempts to promote its sale into new markets such as school lunches and dog food. The challenge is to increase political opposition to whaling within Japan. The Japanese tourists on the Perth whale-watching tours are after all just as enthralled by whale watching as the Aussies and most have no interest in consuming whale meat. The value of a living whale is immeasurably greater than that of a whale carcass.

Albatross

At an ocean trench off Rotto
Where the sea is very deep
And the icy Southern Ocean
And the Leeuwin Current meet
You will find the wanderer
On winter time retreat

Skimming over wave tops
With the rhythm of the sea
His graceful soaring flight
Is marvellous to see
With rigid wings unmoving
Defying gravity

The Perth Canyon is a 1,300 m deep trench cutting inot the continental shelf 20 km west of Rottnest Island. It is well known for game fishing, Pygmy Blue Whales and southern ocean seabirds that migrate northwards in the southern winter. High productivity is supported by a localised upwelling of cold nutrient rich water at the eastern end of the trench. This upwelling is driven by the Leeuwin Current which paradoxically inhibits upwellings along much of the Western Australian coast and is responsible for the relatively low productivity of Western Australian fisheries dcompared to those on the western side of South America and Africa. The warm and nutrient poor Leeuwin Current is also responsble for the extension of coral reefs as far south as Rottnest Island. As the current swings westwards over the Perth Canyon it drives cold nutrient rich deep water from bottom of the Canyon into the photic zone to trigger blooms of phytoplankton which in turn support masses of krill. These in turn feed Pygmy Blue Whales that congregate in the area during summer and Humpback whales which pass through the area on their way to and from their tropical winter calving grounds. The Perth Canyon is a fabulous fishing spot that is coming under increasing pressure from an expanding long line fleet that currently operates with 5 million hooks. In Winter it is a feeding ground for pelagic seabirds such as Albatross and Petrels retreating northward from the stormy Antarctic Winter. The Perth Canyon and its marvellous fishing and wildlife are still a fairly well kept secret but charter operators are increasingly running charters to the area. If you get the chance to go you should do so. Alternatively why not get some friends together and charter your own boat. Marvellous!

Frilled Lizard

With mouth agape he raised his ruff
But I knew it was only bluff
I knew he was not that tough
And would soon tire of this stuff

But then he had a better plan
With brilliant orange frilly fan
Tucked in closely, off he ran
On two hind legs just like a man

Looking for a place to flee
He quickly ran straight up a tree
Where safety was a gaurantee
And he could keep an eye on me

Somehow watching through the tree
On the other side from me
Always moving round the tree
Practising his ESP

There are few sights more magnificant than a frilled lizard which is probably why it was selected as the cover photo on my 1979 Edition of Harold G.Cogger's Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia. It is an iconic species that adorned the now obsolete 2c piece and is still common in the dry sclerophyll forests of tropical Australia and New Guinea. They were very common on Groote Eylandt when I was there in the 1990's and referred to by the local Aborigines as man-lizards due to their habit of running on their back legs when alarmed which on Groote was frequent with no shortage of hungry hunters. Not suprisingly for an arboreal species, they climb really well despite their large size and this coupled with their speed gives them a fair degree of protection. What I could never figure out is how they would manage to keep on the far side of the tree when I was trying to get a closer look at one. Fast or slow, clockwise or anticlockwise they would mirror my movement to remain on the far side of the tree. Although arboreal, the frilled lizard spends a lot of time on the ground hunting for insects and small invertebrates and when started will initally raise its ruff and open its mouth to expose sharp teeth in an attempt to frighten off the intruder. If this fails it is time to run like the wind and straight up the nearest tree.

The Heart of Darkness

The once dark heart

Is pierced by blinding light

Which shatters the eternal night

Causing pulse to sicken

Leaving Baka stricken

How now will Baka eat?

To what darkness now retreat?

With lifeblood draining truck by truck

The Baka may be out of luck.

Light has come to the eternal night of the Congo Basin rainforest. Ancient forest giants festooned with vines crash to the forest floor with a mighty noise that for a moment drowns out the roar of the chainsaws. Monkeys and other forest animals flee in terror as the bright light of civilisation finally reaches the dark heart of Africa. The Baka pygmies look on while the forest resources so necessary for their livelihoods and culture disappear. But the Baka are pragmatic and there is always more forest to move to. Or is there? Unless something is done soon to slow or halt the rapid deforestation of the Congo Basin rainforest there will soon be no old growth forest left for the Baka and no wildlife left to hunt. What then for the Baka? What then for the planet? We cannot allow this to happen.

Black on Blue The Lament of the Black Cockatoo

The White Tailed Black Cockatoo is a large, raucous and conspicuous bird well known to the residents of Perth and the south-west. To some they are a pest but to most of us a treasure. They are such as integral part of our landscape that it is easy to take them for granted and most people have no idea that they are endangered or else do not believe it. They are so conspicuous and travel such large distances that a small number will be seen by large numbers of people. The fact is that there are not many left and of those many are old birds well past their breeding prime. Unlike us a bird in its 60’s looks much the same as a 2 year old.

There are two types of White-tailed black Cockatoos. The seed eating Carnaby’s Cocky which has a short beak and the Long-beaked Baudin’s Cockatoo which is a fruit eater that is being shot to oblivion by orchardists and is really in trouble. The main problem for Carnaby’s Cocky in particular is a shortage of ancient Wandoo trees with suitable nesting hollows within about 6 km of Kwongan Heath feeding grounds. The other problem is that many of the suitable nesting hollows have been taken over by feral bees. These are issues that must be addressed as a priority for us to have any chance of securing a long term future for these beautiful birds. Can you imagine the sky black with flocks of thousands of White Tailed Black Cockatoos as the Nyunger People and the early settlers used to witness?

Lonely black against the blue
Once so many now so few
Once the black obscured the blue
When the flocks of thousands flew
Across the land the Nyungar knew

The nesting hollows in the trees
Are now most often filled with bees
And where to find good seeds to eat
With the loss of Kwongan Heath
Turned to paddocks full of beef

Is there a way to bring them back?
To once again coat blue with black
To once more hear the forest ring
With their chorus as they sing
And shriek and squawk like anything

Scarlet Robin

Early in the morning
There’s a flash of brilliant red
And a tap upon the window
While we are still in bed

He’s not there to say good morning
Or to stop us sleeping late
He is there in all his glory
To fight his mirror mate

He arrives early to greet his reflection in our northern windows. We hear a scratch on the window and there he is in all his glory. The vivid scarlet breast and white patched forehead mark him unmistakably as a Scarlet Robin. This inhabitant of the Jarrah and Wandoo Forests of South Western Australia is an Old World Flycatcher and not related to its English Robin Red Breast namesake. Apart from his good looks he has a beautiful trilling, warble. The female is not as gaudy but is also gorgeous with a pale red breast and more subdued colouring.