Myanmar sea-gypsies, the nomadic hunter-gatherers of South East Asia harvesting sea urchins.
The people shown in these photographs are Moken, the nomadic sea-gypsies found off the South-West coast of Myanmar. They are found in transient villages throughout the Islands known as the Mergui Archipelago, located in the Andaman Sea. They live an almost entirely sea-related existence, hunting and gathering from the ocean rather than living as conventional fishermen. This style of life, fishing an area for a short time and moving on ,prevents depletion of sea life and has been a highly successful sustainable way of life for hundreds of years. The Moken are incredibly comfortable in the water and their children, in particular, grow up playing in it almost every day. Here, they are shown collecting sea-urchins for food. They walk on the sea bed, picking them up and removing the body from the spines for a great source of protein.
Size: 5100px × 3400px
Location: Andam Sea, Mergui Archipelago, West coast, Burma, Myanmar
Photo credit: © Justine Evans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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