An ethnography on the wedge sea hare in Mactan Island, the Philippines (Etnografi tentang kelinci laut di Pulau Mactan, Filipina)

The wedge sea hare (Dolabella auricularia) is a mollusk species found in tidal flats and is consumed as food around the Philippines. The practice of consuming its internal organs is probably found only on the Mactan Island. The Problem of this study is to clarify why people collect the internal organs of wedge sea hare. The objective is a gleaner who have special skills to identify the sea hare burrows. Participatory observation and measurement method were employed for this research. As a result, it found that the gleaners precisely identify occupied sea hare burrows using unique skills, and to remove the edible internal organs from the disposable body. Local people regard the internal organs as a nutrition. As a conclusion, this practice must be an adaptation to an environment where vegetable protein is scarce due to a limestone-based soil unsuitable for agriculture. Thus, the role of the wedge sea hare in a unique culture was also developed.