Sea Hunters of Lamalera
Their boats are sacred and alive. Their prey is gigantic and dangerous. They are the sea hunters of Lamalera, an isolated village on the tiny island of Lembata, lost in east Indonesia.
Kambo, the look-out has spotted a big prey and screams “Io Bodoh ! Io Bodoh”. Half a mile ahead the boat, a whale shark - the biggest fish in the wolrd - is swimming slowly. Its’ a big one, 30 feet at least ! the crew rows the clan’s “pedelang” with all their strength under a fierce sun shouting an ancient rhythmic chant, “Hilabe, hilabe, hela, hela/hilabe, hela, hela..’ at every stroke. Bapa Ficus eyes are fixed on the whale shark as if willing it to come closer. He is the best ‘lamafar’ or harpooner of Lamalera, a village nested on the southern coast of the island of Lembata. His hands grip the bamboo, he raises the pole that is so long it bends and flexes in the air. He stands up on a narrow, five-foot-long, bamboo-and-plank platform. From this precarious place Bapa takes aim and hurls this body along with the harpoon into the water and stabs the whale shark on the head. The giant fish rears up and dives deep. The harpooner swims back to the boat and is pulled aboard. During the turn back of the pedelang, the shark comes back to the surface and Bapa jump again on the back of the shark.The red blood gush out of the shark. Clutched to the fin, Bap stable the monster to death. Last beatings of the giant tail…
Photos and text ©Jean Robert / Lightmediation
