Lamalera, a tiny village on the tip of one of Indonesia's largely abandoned Eastern Islands is famous for its subsistence traditional whaling and its deep-rooted Catholicism. Lamalera, 2007
Crazy footage of sharks, whales, rays, dolphins and all large sea life taken across 2006 in Bali, Indonesia off the Island of the Gods. by: cbenz01
Hunting for Whales in Small Boats that Never 'Die'
...Lamalera, a village on the Indonesian island of Lembata, is the last place on Earth where sperm whales are harpooned from small wooden boats. I have come here with photo- journalist Tom Ives to chronicle a centuries old tradition where village men set sail in vessels so revered they have become a sacrosanct part of the community....
....The whalers' day starts before sunrise. From Lamalera A and B, twin villages separated by a single, steep hill, and informal procession begins. Men wrapped in sarongs gather on the beach, fanning out to the particular boatshed that houses the pelendang belonging to their clan. There are 29 of these sheds above the high-tide line on the beach ......
..... There are no piers, no docks, so getting the boats into the sea remains an arduous task. They are launched each day in the whaling season form May to October as if on maiden voyages ......
...... At first glance a pelendang appears to be an improbable craft, its ability to make its way through water nothing short of miraculous. It is 12 meters long, weighs well over a tonne and is pieced together like a Japanese joined puzzle in a pre-Viking, lashed-lug design....
(read the continue here...)
....The whalers' day starts before sunrise. From Lamalera A and B, twin villages separated by a single, steep hill, and informal procession begins. Men wrapped in sarongs gather on the beach, fanning out to the particular boatshed that houses the pelendang belonging to their clan. There are 29 of these sheds above the high-tide line on the beach ......
..... There are no piers, no docks, so getting the boats into the sea remains an arduous task. They are launched each day in the whaling season form May to October as if on maiden voyages ......
...... At first glance a pelendang appears to be an improbable craft, its ability to make its way through water nothing short of miraculous. It is 12 meters long, weighs well over a tonne and is pieced together like a Japanese joined puzzle in a pre-Viking, lashed-lug design....
(read the continue here...)
