Adventures of Billy Bubbles: The dugong

The Adventures of Billy Bubbles:
The dugong affair


It is Easter vacation and Billy Bubbles and his dad are flying to Belau in Micronesia to go diving. They land first in Hawaii, then in Guam, then Yap, and finally in Belau more than 7,000 miles southwest of Seattle.
They are greeted by their guide, Tewid. Many years ago Mr. Bubbles had been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Belau and Tewid was his good friend. Tewid takes Billy and his Dad to the Royal Belauan Hotel where they will stay. “Now you must rest and tomorrow we go diving in the Rock Islands,” Tewid tells them.
Billy and his dad are exhausted from the trip and they sleep soundly in the Royal Belauan Hotel.
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The next day Tewid takes Billy and his dad out to the Rock Islands where the water is calm and clear. Tewid drops the anchor in the sand next to a coral reef near one of the islands. “This is a nice place to dive. There are many giant clams and fish here. While you are SCUBA diving, I will catch a clam for our sashimi,” says Tewid.
“Wow,” Billy says, having never seen a giant clam. “Tewid,” he asks. “What is sashimi?”
Tewid smiles. “Sashimi is raw fish or clams, or anything eaten raw. Don’t worry Billy, you will like sashimi. I promise.”
Billy makes a face at the thought of eating sashimi. “Lets get going,” he tells his dad. (pic of boat with the three inside, half view underwater showing reef, lots of fish, and clams)
Billy and Mr. Bubbles jump into the water with their SCUBA gear on. The water is almost warm. Billy looks around. He can see a great distance in the crystal clear water. “Wow,” he bubbles through his regulator, but of course his dad cannot hear him.
They glide down through the pristine water to the reef 30 feet below. Billy spots a giant clam and swims over to it. The clam is almost the size of Billy and he marvels at the vivid colors of the clam’s mantle. He passes his hand over the clam and it closes suddenly, sending a strong current of water up from its shell. Billy backs away and takes a deep breath from his regulator. “Wow,” he bubbles.
Billys’ dad taps Billy on the shoulder and points to a shark circling on the far side of the reef. Billy is not afraid because he knows that sharks are usually only curious. But he also knows he and his dad must be cautious because sharks can sometimes be dangerous. He and his dad swim across the reef, watching the shark as they go.
As Billy and his dad reach the far side of the reef, Billy stops and points to a gill net caught up in the corals on the reef. Billy sees something resembling a seal tangled in the net and he points it out to his dad who nods in recognition. Billys’ dad thinks: “It’s a young dugong and it will suffocate unless we free it from the net so that it can get to the surface to breath.”
Now Billy counts three sharks circling the area. “They must want to eat it, he thinks.”
Mr. Bubbles and Billy swim to the dugong. The little dugong looks at them with sad big brown eyes. In its struggle to free itself, it has wrapped up in the net and can hardly move. It watches the sharks intently.
Billy and his dad are low on air but they try to free the dugong with their hands. They need a knife to cut the net but neither has brought one down. Billy looks at the sharks swimming closer and closer. Now there are five sharks!
Billy’s dad signals the “thumbs up” to ascend because they are dangerously low on air. But Billy hesitates; he doesn’t want to leave the dugong to the sharks. He struggles furiously with the net, trying to untangle the dungong, which makes him breath harder. He sucks on his regulator but the air is not there. His tank is almost empty. He must abandon the dugong or he will drown himself. Billy swims upward towards his dad being careful not to ascend faster than his smallest bubbles, otherwise he might get an embolism. The closer he gets to the surface, the easier it is to breath because there is less pressure near the surface. Billy looks down at the sharks circling the net. He knows the sharks will soon attack.
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“Tewid, Tewid,” Billy yells when he climbs on board. “A seal is caught in a net on the reef and the sharks are going to get it!”
Billy’s dad says: “Billy, that’s not a seal--it’s a baby dugong.”
“What’s a dugong?” asks Billy.
“Dugong is a sea cow,” answers his dad.
Tewid says: “In old times we Belauans hunted dugong for food. Chiefs wore vertebrate around wrist, like woman wears bracelet. But now dugong is protected from hunting. I have not seen one for several years. Before, plenty, but now very rare in Belau.”
Billy almost shouts: “We have to save it!”
“We can’t,” says Billy’s dad. “We have to go back so we can catch the flight out of Belau this evening. I must be back to work for an important meeting on Monday. If we miss this flight I’ll miss the meeting. I’m sorry Billy, but that’s part of life.” He looks at Tewid who looks away and goes forward to pull the anchor. Billy looks at his dad, head cocked disgustedly.
“Dad! You mean you’ll let the sharks kill dugong because of a meeting? Because that’s part of life?” Billy throws his mask down and bows his head. “I can’t believe this,” he says.
“I’m sorry Billy, but it’s very important that I get back to work on time. I told you this before we came. And besides, these things happen all the time in the ocean, Billy. It’s all part of the natural food chain; of nature.”
“No it’s not!” exclaims Billy. “Dugong is caught in a net. That’s not part of the natural food chain. That’s not nature. Man made the net, and man is not natural anymore. Man just messes things up, takes what he wants, and takes more than he should.”
--Silence--.
“Let’s go Tewid,” Billy’s dad says.
Tewid pulls up the anchor and places it snuggly in the boat. He cranks the engine, and they speed off towards Koror. They pass several rock islands, gliding easily across the clear water and over coral jutting up from patch reefs while fish dart outward in bursts of colors. Suddenly Tewid throttles back the engine and the boat coasts to a stop. He stands and looks back from where they had come, his dark, lean body silouetted against the rock islands. Still looking back, he says: “Billy,” do you want to go back with me and rescue the dugong? We will swim back and your dad can take the boat to Koror and catch the airplane. I know your dad would like to help us, but he must get back for important meeting. I must save the dugong. They are endangered species and I cannot let the dugong die without trying my best to save it.
Billy is afraid to swim that far but he knows he must help save dugong. His conscience tells him so. “Yeah, I’ll go with you Tewid,” he barks, glancing at his dad.
Billy’s dad stares at Tewid incredulously. He understands immediately what Tewid is doing. Tewid is shaming him, but in such a way to be inoffensive. It is the island way.
Again there is a long silence. Then--
“No,” says Mr. Bubbles. “I can’t let you go back there alone. My meeting will just have to wait. Let’s all go rescue the poor dugong and get rid of that darn net.”
Without another word, Tewid starts the engine and they zoom back to the reef where dugong is struggling desperately and the sharks are closing in.
“We each have one more tank of air,” says Mr. Bubbles. “Billy, be sure and take your knife so we can cut the net free.”
Tewid says: “I will dive with speargun and keep sharks away from dugong while you make ready.”
“Be careful Tewid. Those sharks must be quite excited by now,” says Mr. Bubbles.
“Yes Tewid. Be careful,” Billy says.
“I know shark,” says Tewid. He lifts his arm revealing his scarred biceps from a shark bite of long ago.
“Wow!” Billy yells.
Tewid slips his goggles over his eyes and jumps into the water with a big splash. He swims out over the reef, then dives down to meet the sharks.
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Billy and his dad have their SCUBA gear on and are ready to go back in to rescue the dugong. As they sit on the boat’s gunwales, Billy’s dad says: “Billy. Be careful now. Stay close to me and watch out for the sharks, okay?”
“Okay,” Billy says. “Lets go.”
Billy and his dad fall backwards off the gunwales into the water. They see Tewid below, fending off a shark with his spear. There are many sharks now and Tewid is very tired. He waves to Billy and his dad as he swims up for air.
Billy and his dad descend slowly, back to back, and feet first so they can keep watch on the excited sharks. They breath rapidly, knowing they are in a dangerous situation.
At last Mr. Bubbles and Billy arrive at the net. The poor little dugong looks at them through exhausted eyes. Billy grasps his knife and points it at the sharks while Mr. Bubbles begins to cut the dugong free.
Dugong is very weak now. Mr. Bubbles realizes it will take much too long to cut dugong from the net. He begins cutting the net from the reef so that they can haul both the net and dugong up to the boat where dugong can breath.
Out in the blue, Billy sees a huge shark with stripes on its side and a broad square snout. “Wow! A tiger shark,” Billy thinks, sucking hard for more air.
The big tiger shark swims towards Billy and his dad. It is 12 feet long and the other sharks angle off away from its path. Billy watches, paralyzed. Billy’s dad cannot see the shark while he cuts the net, but dugong can. Dugon struggles wildly, then gives up, exhausted.
Billy grabs his dad by the shoulder. Mr. Bubbles looks up and sees the tiger shark. “Holy cow!” Mr. Bubbles gurgles through his regulator.
The massive shark swims by, then turns back towards them. “It’s hungry,” thinks Billy. The shark swims in, then turns away at the last second. Billy and his dad struggle hard with the net, cutting and pulling, their labored breathing sending up great clouds of bubbles.
Looking down from the surface, Tewid sees the big tiger shark swimming towards Billy. Tewid dives, kicking hard to reach the shark. He pokes the shark in the back with his long spear gun, causing the big shark to turn and charge out into deep water.
Mr. Bubbles glances at his computer and realizes he and Billy are out of time. They must return to the surface or they will get the bends (diving sickness). He looks at the poor animal wrapped up in the net, now with its eyes closed, then at Billy frantically slashing at the net with his knife. Billy glances at his dad who signals Billy to ascend. But Billy continues to hack away at the net.
Alarmed, Mr. Bubbles swims quickly over to Billy. “We must go up!” he signals to Billy again. Billy looks at his dad, then at dugong. He grabs the net and gives a final strong yank. The net tightens, then pulls free. Mr. Bubbles grabs the net and he and Billy pull it along as they swim upward, the sharks circling them.
When they reach the side of the boat, Tewid grabs the net and begins pulling it aboard. Billy and his dad climb into the boat and discard their gear. The net is heavy and Billy and his dad help Tewid pull. Finally dugong reaches the surface, just as Billy yells out: “Look, the tiger shark is coming!”
They see a prominent dorsal fin slice through the surface as the big shark torpedoes towards dugong. “Pull hard!” Tewid yells.
The three of them pull the net with all their might. Tewid bends over the side and lifts the wrapped dugong from the water just as the tiger shark arrives, its mouth open wide in anticipation of a meal. Missing dugong, the shark rams the side of the boat with its big square snout making a loud THUD! and shaking the boat. The disgruntled shark rolls on its side with its eye looking up at them, turns, and swims away, while Billy yells after it: “Good-bye tiger shark. You’ll just have to find lunch somewhere else today!”
With the net in the boat at last, Tewid carefully cuts dugong from its wraps. Dugong lies on the deck, eyes closed, motionless, and not breathing. Billy’s dad says: “Billy. Remember your CPR training? Maybe you can revive dugong.”
“Okay!” Billy agrees. Quickly, Billy rolls dugong onto its back. He presses dugong’s chest again and again. Placing his ear close to dugong’s nose, Billy listens for breathing. Billy repeats the process but dugong still will not breath. Again and again Billy performs CPR. Finally, Billy looks up tearfully at his dad. “Dugong won’t breath,” he sniffs.
Dugong’s eyes suddenly open and stare up at Billy. Then Dugong burps loudly: “Wow!” shouts Billy. “Dugong is alive!”
Coughing and sputtering, dugong rolls on its side. Tewid says: “Let’s move to rock island, away from sharks. Dugong can rest while we eat sashimi. After, we let dugong swim so it can find its momma. I think Momma is near.”
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When they reach the rock island, Mr. Bubbles carries the little dugong to the beach while Tewid cuts the clam and douses it with soy sauce. Then he finds some coconuts which he husks and cracks open for the meat. On the beach, they sit and eat the clam chunks and coconut. Billy says: “But what about dugong? It has nothing to eat.”
“Dugong only eats sea weed,” Tewid answers. “When dugong is rested we will release it so it can eat the sea grass growing off the beach.”
Dugong blinks.
“I wonder what happened to its mother?” says Mr. Bubbles.
“I hope just apart. But maybe the sharks got Momma,” Tewid answers.
Billy stares out at the water and sees a dark, rock-like head with big eyes peering in at them. “Look!” he points.
“Momma dugong!” Tewid shouts.
Billy skips around on the beach. “Momma dugong has found baby dugong,” he says. “Wow!”
Tewid carries the little dugong out from the beach and places it in the water. The little dugong takes a deep breath, then slowly swims underwater out towards Momma dugong who slips beneath the surface. Tewid says: “Baby dugong is weak and needs to nurse.”
Momma dugong and baby dugong poke their heads up and stare at the three people standing on the beach. Tewid, Billy, and Mr. Bubbles wave good-bye to their gentle friends. “OOOhh!” says Momma dugong. “Ooh!” says baby dugong.
Tewid laughs: “That is their sound. They say good-bye to us.”
The two dugong disappear. “Good-bye,” Billy says.
Then Tewid says to Billy and Mr. Bubbles: “You have helped our islands by saving endangered animal from being no-more. Ak kmal ma sang.”
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At Belau International Airport, Billy and Mr. Bubbles are ready to board the Air Micronesia jet for their trip home. Tewid has come to see them off.
“Billy, your CPR saved baby dugong,” Tewid says. “I will destroy net. Gill nets are bad because they catch everything, even dugong.”
Billy and Mr. Bubbles shake Tewid’s hand. “Thanks for everything friend,“ Mr. Bubbles says to Tewid.
“Sashimi was great!” says Billy.
Tewid says: “Come back again and we will go on another great diving adventure. And eat more sashimi.”
The jet’s engines roar as the Boeing 727 zooms off into the blue sky towards home.

--END--