Gone Fishin'......

Today's photo brings home the reality of survival from the island of Bali, Indonesia. I'd never really noted these guys before, I guess I was too preoccupied with the waves and getting ready for some serious swimming but that was always on days when there was actually a good swell. On the island of Serangen the locals do actually farm corals and seaweed so the role of Hunter/Gatherer is simply another add on to their daily chores.

It's only at times of low tide when these guys can go retrieve their small nets for fish, an iron bar to weed out any crustaceans or octopus, a keep net and some plastic bottles for anything that may also take their fancy or that could be sold to the aquarium traders in town. OK so it looks like a nice setting and yes, even with the rendering I carried out in post to make this image look cold and desolate, the sun was shining. However there are days when the rain is pelting down, when the winds are blowing, when the last thing anyone would want to do is to patrol knee to waist high in Ocean to look for food, but this is the task set before this guy, and many like him.

To survive day to day, to be able to provide for the family day to day is often a task that is very apparent in many of the tropical settings of the World but an aspect of daily life that is equally overlooked by visitors. The next time you see a similar scenario take a moment, just a few seconds, to appreciate the regimental discipline within us all for self preservation, for survival.

This image was shot using a Canon 5DMkII fitted with a Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS zoom lens. It was taken on the Serangen Island of Bali, Indonesia.

Cheers,
Mark.
liquidmocean.