Nomads who survived the 2004 tsunami may be the last of generation to live at sea

Updated
  • The Bajau Laut are a Southeast Asian people that have lived for centuries in the seas around Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

  • The Bajau make their living spearfishing and selling to Hong Kong fishing companies.

  • But the Bajau are slowly losing their culture and may no longer be able to make a living as their habitat has been overfished.


UK native James Morgan was studying photography in London when he read about a group of seafaring Southeast Asian nomads who had survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami with almost no casualties.

"They understood the ocean so well that they headed for protection before the tsunami hit," Morgan told Business Insider.

An anthropologist by training, Morgan decided to document the Bajau Laut, who have begun to lose their culture in recent years because of government programs that force them ashore and the difficult reality of fishing for a living in overfished seas.

Morgan found a nomadic people struggling to sustain themselves by continuing to overfish the waters and, ultimately, hurting the very habitat they call home.

In 2014, Morgan shared a selection of his photos of the Bajau Laut with us:

You can see the rest at his website.

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