Wardan Boodjar (the Ocean Country) designates the extensive coastal, intertidal, and marine jurisdictions of the Bibbullmun Sovereign Nation, spanning the rugged granitic coastlines of the south to the limestone reefs and barrier islands of the Indian Ocean littoral.[1] Bibbullmun coastal knowledge integrates deep-time oral histories documenting the post-glacial sea-level rise with sophisticated intertidal fisheries management.[2]
1. Deep-Time Inundation Traditions: The Wadjemup Separation
Bibbullmun oral traditions preserve an extraordinary, scientifically verified account of the sea-level rise that occurred between 9,000 and 6,500 years before present.[3]
Elders recount that ancestral people walked dry-shod to Rottnest Island (*Wadjemup*), Carnac Island (*Ngooloormayup*), and Garden Island (*Meeandip*) across fertile eucalyptus woodlands until rising ocean waters broke through the limestone ridges, creating the present marine straits.[4]
2. Intertidal Reef Foraging & Spear Fisheries
Wardan custodians possessed an encyclopaedic taxonomy of marine life, navigating coastal limestone platforms during low tide to harvest abalone (*awalo*), crabs, octopus (*djingal*), and crayfish.[5] In shallow estuarine lagoons, men deployed multi-pronged wooden fish spears (*gidji*) with deadly precision, taking advantage of torchlight reflections during calm summer nights.[6]