Dr Marius Palz’s talk examines the socio-ecological entanglements of humans and dugongs in the Ryukyu Archipelago in the past and present, and how the dugong’s state on the verge of regional extinction affects the discourse and practices around a military base construction in the waters of Henoko/Ōura Bay, Okinawa Main Island. Based on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork, it aims to contribute to the fields of environmental anthropology and Japanese studies during times of increasing environmental crisis.
