Up in the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Yanyuwa people are deeply connected with the sea and surrounding islands.
They identify as ‘li-antha wirriyara’ or ‘people of the salt water.’
Li means people, antha means the sea, and wirriyarra means one's spiritual home or place of being; the place where one’s identity and culture are from.
Turtles are an ancestral being and according to law, it is only hunted by men at certain times of the year.
They can only take what they need and it must be shared.
Yanyuwa peoples use walya to refer to all dugong and sea turtles, but then have at least 16 different names to describe a dugong depending on its age, size, gender, and even its status within the herd.
The ocean near here today is one of the last remaining safe havens for endangered marine animals including six of the world's seven marine turtles.