On the water with the sea gypsies:
They are not recognised by neighbouring countries, do not know their ages, and have little concept of reading or writing. The Bajau people are known as the 'sea gipsies,' as they spend most of their time living on boats and working in the turquoise Pacific Ocean. Photographer Réhahn spent eight days among the sea nomad children in Borneo, learning about their fascinating aquatic lives. Scroll down for video +11 Like a fish! The Bajau children in Borneo spend time on boats from an early age, and begin their hunting around the age of eight +11 French photographer, Réhahn, 35, said the friendly children loved him taking their pictures and seemed happy to see a foreigner +11 Réhahn uses a Canon 5d Mark III to capture his stunning pictures, and spent eight days living among the tribe to learn about their lives The Bajau live in small boats or stilted huts, relying on their extensive knowledge of the ocean to make a living through fishing. The young children learn from a young age how to swim or dive, and start their hunting as young as eight years old. Despite many of them not knowing their ages, or written communication, Réhahn described the peace and serenity that emanated from the water tribe. 'The children are like fish in the sea. Young children are sometimes on the boat alone, but all seemed very happy to see a foreigner,' the 35-year-old French photographer said. 'Children were jumping from a wooden bridge and they wanted me to take their photo. They were perfect models.' The Bajau tribe's beliefs centre around a combination of animism and Islam, with their relationship with the ocean and its inhabitants being at the heart of the nomads' existence. +11 Happy and content! Réhahn said the sea gipsies were like fish in the water, and spent a lot of their time jumping happily into the water from a bridge +11 Due to extended periods under the surface, the sea nomads have an enhanced underwater-vision, perfect for spearfishing +11 Réhahn said: 'When I arrived, children jumped on the boat to come near me. Some families invited me to their house' Being around water from a young age results in the best divers being able to stay submerged at depths of 20 metres for several minutes, while they hunt for fish. The hunter-gathers mainly use spearfishing to get their produce, but can dive for pearls and sea cucumbers. Studies have shown that youngsters have exceptionally good underwater-vision due to being constantly in the ocean environment. As diving is such a big part of their lives, often their ear drums rapture at an early age. +11 Regardless of their age, everyone in the Bajau tribe has a place and helps in some way to catch the fish +11 Splashing around! Bajau children enjoy their water existence and play in the turquoise waves +11 The best divers are able to stay underwater at depths of 20 metres for several minutes, while they hunt for fish Réhahn, who has over 180,000 fans of his work on his fan page, said: 'They are very welcoming and friendly. When I arrived, children jumped on the boat to come near me. Some families invited me to their house.' Although some of the seafaring tribe are born on the ocean and never live on the land, more frequently the sea gypsies are heading to the shore for trade and to gather materials to build boats. Réhahn said the Bajau roughly know about age but time doesn't matter much to them, and they live in the present, and live only for and by the water. +11 Some female sea gipsies give birth on their huts with stilts, although many come to land to trade and get supplies, there are a small number who have lived entirely on the ocean throughout their whole lives +11 The tribe's beliefs centre around a combination of animism and Islam, with their relationship with the ocean and its inhabitants being at the heart of their existence
|
|
| Survival of the fishiest: From giant Japanese scallop nets to domed shrimp cages, how marine farms around the world are caring for the ocean
Down in the depths, a diver swims among cages of netting that look like underwater Towers of Pisa. Sitting inside the many 'floors' of each one are giant Japanese scallops that are keeping the delicate ecosystem in balance. The molluscs form part of an experimental aquatic farm devised by Dr Stephen Cross from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Aware of the pollution in the farmed fish industry, he has come up with a 'polyculture' system whereby only one species in the chain needs to be directly fed by him - as can be seen in this fascinating set of pictures from National Geographic magazine. +8 Nature's own water filters, giant Japanese scallops thrive on fish waste at an experimental farm off Canada's Vancouver Island. The farm also uses sugar kelp to consume excretions from nearby pens of native sablefish +8 In the Gulf of California lie four shrimp cages owned by Gustavo Valdez. Each one can yield anything up to 13 tons of shrimp every four to six months Off the coast of Vancouver Island, he only feeds sablesfish (also known as black cod), which are native to the Pacific Ocean. Nearby hang the baskets containing scallops, along with oysters, mussels and cockles - which feed on the fish's organic excretions. Beyond them lie lines of sugar kelp - a brown algae used in sushi, and also as a component of bioethanol fuel. These plants mop up the rest of the waste by converting nitrates and phosphorus into plant tissue. +8 Diamond-shaped fish cages rise from the water for cleaning at Open Blue, the world's largest open-ocean fish farm, eight miles off the Caribbean coast of Panama +8 Tilapia pens in Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines, are choked by an algal bloom they helped create. The overstocked lake produces a large quantity of farmed fish, but excess nutrients trigger blooms that use up oxygen and kill fish +8 The whole system acts like a giant water filter - and most importantly, it is a commercially viable proposition, as it can make extra food for fish farms. It's self-sustainable and good for the environment. And for the fishing industry, that can only be a good thing. Whereas fisheries deal with catching, processing and selling fish, aquaculture concerns the cultivation of aquatic animals and aquatic plants - and is also known as 'fish farming'. There have been concerns over the years about fish in fisheries being treated with antibiotics, for example, as well as disease from farmed fish being passed on to wild fish. And then there is the threat of coastal pollution via waste and pesticides. From Mexico to the Philippines and Scotland, large-scale fish farms are an expanding global business. A diver nets a ten-pound cobia (also known as black salmon) for sampling before harvest in one of Open Blue's dozen offshore pens. Able to hold hundreds of thousands of fish, but less densely stocked and better flushed than nearshore salmon pens, they produce little pollution World fisheries produced 158million tonnes in 2012, of which almost 70million came from aquaculture. Gustavo Valdez is another who has embraced its principles. In the Gulf of California, he can be found inspecting his four shrimp cages - each of which yield anything up to 13 tons of shrimp every four to six months. His enterprise is a far cry from traditional shrimp farms - where the hatcheries can give rise to disease - but it does rely on subsidies from the Mexican government. Meanwhile, eight miles off the coast of Panama, another diver nets a 10lb cobia for sampling before harvest.
A graphic showing the amount of feed required to gain 1lb of body mass; and right, the June issue of National Geographic magazine The fish, also known as the black salmon, is in one of 12-odd offshore pens belonging to Open Blue - the largest offshore fish farm in the world. Choc full with healthy omega-3 fatty acids, the cobia is a highly valued seafood. But unlike holding areas nearer the shore (often in coves), these pens, which can hold 40,000 fish, produce hardly any pollution, and are not densely stocked. Brian O'Hanlon, president of Open Blue, has housed his salmon cages in deep water so that they are continually cleansed by the current - and he hasn't yet needed to give them antibiotics. 'This is the future', he told National Geographic. 'This is what the industry is going to have to do in order to keep growing, especially in the tropics.' Fish feeding frenzy: Photographer StÈphanie Amaudruz writes that in Asia, it is a common sight to see people feed goldfish like Europeans feed pigeons - the idea is to create harmonious shapes by throwing food in selected spots
|
No comments:
Post a Comment