Lamalera Whaler Repairing Fishing Nets Editorial Photo

An old whaler from Lamalera village repairs fishing nets on a beach. Villagers of Lamalera on Lembata island, East Indonesia, are the last people on Earth who regularly hunt whales with hand harpoons. They use non-motor wooden boats to chase a whale and then a whaler throws bamboo harpoons from the tip of its boat. This way of hunting is dangerous, sometimes boats sink or are pulled by whales for miles (and days) before a whale dies. Lamalera villagers only occasionally use money, most often they exchange directly goods with other villages and in this way they get other types of food in exchange of fish and whale meat. Between fishing and hunting, whalers spend their time on a beach making tools and repairing their boats.