Story

The Pacific's Perilous Turn, Photo Gallery

December 26, 2013 | The Seattle Times
By
Steve Ringman

The Bajau village, also known as Sampela, is connected by a series of elevated boardwalks where neighbors hang out between meals or fishing outings. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Tadi, a Bajau fisherman, spears an octopus in the south Sulawesi region of Indonesia. Hundreds of millions of people, including Northwest oyster growers, gather marine life threatened by changing seas. But Tadi’s village depends so thoroughly on troubled coral reefs that climate change and shifting sea chemistry eventually could make it challenging to find food. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Tadi’s village of 1,600 people rises straight out of the Banda Sea, between Kaledupa and Hoga islands. He and his neighbors have no land or running water. Homes are built on stilts or on gigantic stacks of dead coral. Virtually everything they eat comes from the sea or is bought with money made selling what they catch. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

When the tide is out, children from the Bajau village scamper among the mud and seagrass. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A young Bajau woman stands with her child in the living area of one of the nicest homes in this village above the sea. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A Bajau man surfaces during an afternoon spent fishing. He and other villagers corral the fish with nets and then dive without oxygen to spear them. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

The Bajau travel everywhere by boat. Some women dab their faces with rice paste to protect against the sun. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A Bajau woman sitting in a canoe spears a poisonous stone fish so barefoot villagers won’t step on it. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A fisherman shows off the day’s catch before taking the fish to a market on nearby Kaledupa Island. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A boy carries a platter of watermelon along the boardwalk in the Bajau village. Most of their fruits and vegetables are bought from nearby islanders with money made selling fish. But some here ferry soil from the island and try to grow melons in their stilt village. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Honna, a Bajau villager, cooks and eats a midday meal of fish in her home. Honna, like many Indonesians, has only one name. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Tadi’s son, Laoda, dives with his spear gun on a coral reef not far from the Bajau village. Much of his food and income comes from coral reefs that already are under assault from pollution, overfishing and other problems. Rising temperatures and ocean acidification will make things worse. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Jabira carves spear-fishing goggles out of wood with his machete and sells them around the village or to the occasional tourist. He said it takes him about a day to make a pair. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Laoda hauls a colorful reef fish called a sweetlips to the surface after shooting it with his spear gun. Laoda, like many villagers, dives without oxygen and usually wears hand-carved wooden goggles. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A Bajau woman squats in her boat at the fish market on Kaledupa Island. Customers can stand on a boardwalk overlooking the water before choosing the fish or shellfish they wish to buy. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A new home under construction in the Bajau village. Dead coral will be stacked around the posts to stabilize the structure. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A fisherman carves the stock of a new spear gun from a block of wood in the Bajau village. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Laoda paddles a boat into position over a coral reef in the Banda Sea before spending the morning diving for reef fish. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A simple drawing scrawled on the planks of a Bajau porch sitting over the water is a reflection of how this community survives. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Mbilia floats above the tideflats near her Bajau village and gathers sea urchins. After pulling the urchins from the water, she slices them open on her paddle and pulls out the meat. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Male Bajau villagers work in the muck during an extreme low tide erecting a structure to host a young couple’s wedding. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Young Bajau boys watch a soccer match that is taking place on a small field in the center of the village. The field was erected on a giant mound of dead coral that rises out of the sea. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Imin, interpreter for The Seattle Times, gets shuttled from Hoga Island to the Bajau village. Imin, a dive master who once worked at a research station on Hoga Island, lives on nearby Buton Island. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A woman rocks a baby to sleep inside a stilt home in the Bajau village over the sea. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

A woman stacks dead coral around the base of a stilt house for support. The work is grueling, but she said she has had to make her living this way since her husband died of lung cancer. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Laoda hovers close to the reef, staying out of sight until he spies a fish big enough to target with his spear gun. Laoda frequently dives to 50 feet or more without oxygen and comfortably stays under water for 90 seconds on a single breath. Image by Steve Ringman. Indonesia, 2013.

Hundreds of millions of people gather marine life threatened by changing seas. But the Indonesian village of Sampela depends so thoroughly on troubled coral reefs that climate change and shifting sea chemistry eventually could make it challenging to find food.

This slideshow is from "Sea Change," an in-depth multimedia series on ocean acidification and climate change produced by The Seattle Times. See the full presentation of articles, pictures, graphics and video.