Aerial survey shows sharp decline in sirenian mammals in the Gulf of Carpentaria: Yanyuwa community and scientists appeal

A 50% drop in the population in less than twenty years: this is the dramatic data that emerges from the latest aerial monitoring of the dugongs in the Gulf of Carpentaria, in Northern Australia. Considered by the Yanyuwa people as creatures endowed with authority and spirituality, these marine animals are now in grave danger. This ecological and cultural alarm calls for an immediate response from local institutions and governments.

Dugongs and the Yanyuwa people

In the culture of Yanyuwa people, literally "the salt water people”, they exist 16 different ways to say "dugong"Some specimens are classified as “Rainbow Snakes”, others as “seagrass-related”. All waliki, the generic word for dugong, are perceived as similar to humans. And, along with sea turtles, they are considered creatures of authority (wurrama).

According to the words of Nora Jalirduma, an elderly woman custodian of the knowledge of the Yanyuwa people, collected in 1988 by the anthropologist John Bradley,

“The dugong and the sea turtle are sea creatures with authority; they belonged to our ancestors and they belong to us… they are like the cycad fruit, which is also an authoritative food.”

Along with dolphins and whales, dugongs are children of the Rainbow Serpent, a Spirit of Australian Aboriginal culture described as a benevolent protector but also as a potentially destructive entity whose most visible form manifests itself in cyclonic depressions.

As stated shun evans, Traditional Owner of the Yanyuwa people, during the Gulf dugong workshop held in Borroloola at the end of August,

“Dugongs are fundamental to the Yanyuwa people; they are part of our culture and our land.”.

However, the dugongs in the Gulf of Carpentaria are declining very rapidly.

Population collapse: aerial census data

The results of the Aerial census of dugongs in the Gulf of Carpentaria of 2025 revealed a sharp decline in numbers compared to the last survey in 2007: then, 471 dugongs were counted in the area; in 2025, only 305 were counted. The decline in population, explain researchers from Charles Darwin University and James Cook University, is particularly marked in the south-eastern region of the Gulf, where in 2007, 471 had been counted. 231 dugongs, compared to 63 in 2025In the Northern Territory, however, numbers have remained relatively stable: 242 dugongs were recorded in 2025 compared to 240 in 2007.

“The census is an important warning signal, but without collaboration that provides a complete picture, we cannot confirm the causes of this change,”

explains the Dr. Rachel Groom, a researcher at Charles Darwin University. The solution, according to Groom, can only be achieved through the integration of different sources of knowledge:

“The message from the Gulf dugong workshop in Borroloola is clear: Traditional Owner knowledge, ranger observations and scientific data need to be integrated; and communities must have the authority, information and resources to respond to changes in the landscape.”

To protect dugongs, in short, we need the ancestral knowledge of the Yanyuwa people, who according to scientists should be at the helm of the continuous monitoring of the Waliki – between one census and another.

An alarming decline: a call to protect dugongs

After the Torres Strait, the Gulf of Carpentaria is home to the second largest dugong population in the world. As Dr. Leonardo Guida, marine biologist with the Australian Marine Conservation Society:

“A 50% decline in one of the world's most important dugong populations is truly alarming (…). Dugongs are long-lived animals, with slow reproductive rates and an equally slow recovery rate. A loss of this magnitude requires urgent intervention if we are to give these extraordinary animals a chance to recover.”

The situation is as serious as it seems, especially in the part of the Gulf administered by QueenslandThe AMCS maintains that it is crucial for Queensland to establish net-free zones, as the other government involved, the Northern Territory, has begun to do. But it is also essential to strengthen monitoring of these animals and be able to identify any fishing-related mortality. In short, we need to understand the real causes of this worrying decline.

“If the data indicates the need for further intervention in Queensland waters, concrete action by the State Government will be essential,”

explains Guida.

The AMCS therefore urges the Queensland and Northern Territory governments to swiftly implement their respective coastal fisheries reforms in the Gulf of Carpentaria, including recommendations made by the Traditional Custodians and seagrass meadow protection measures, and to work with the federal government to ensure the resources necessary for continued monitoring of dugongs and protection of their critical habitats.

Here are three insights that might interest you:

Rapa Nui, the indigenous community protecting the Sacred Sea
Tohorā Oranga Bill, whale rights in a national law
IUCN: The green turtle is no longer endangered.