Lamakera in 1904 Lamakera is a village in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, on the east tip of Solor Island. It was known for being the place where the most

manta ray Manta rays are large Batoidea, rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, ''Giant oceanic manta ray, M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, ''Reef manta ray, M. alfredi'', reac ...

s are killed. It was featured in the 2015 documentary film ''

Racing Extinction ''Racing Extinction'' is a 2015 documentary about the Holocene extinction, ongoing anthropogenic mass extinction of species and the efforts from scientists, activists, and journalists to document it by Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos, who ...

''. The villagers also hunted whales.

History

In 1520, the Portuguese established a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

at Lamakera as a transit harbor between Maluku and

Portuguese Malacca Portuguese control of Malaccaa city on the Malay Peninsulaspanned a 130 year period from 1511 to 1641 as a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was captured from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to gain control of ...

Economy

The village used to rely on marine resources because it had no farm. Lamakera was situated in a manta ray hotspot, and so was responsible for one-third of the global catch. They had been known to hunt many kinds of whales and porpoises (''temu'') in a period between March and August; they also used to hunt

baleen whales Baleen whales (), also known as whalebone whales, are marine mammals of the order (biology), parvorder Mysticeti in the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises), which use baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve plankt ...

(''kelaru'') but had since ceased out of a traditional prohibition.

Blue whale The blue whale (''Balaenoptera musculus'') is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of and weighing up to , it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can ...

s (''lélangaji'', "great ancestor") are prohibited as they are deemed sacred. Each whaler is equipped with different types of

harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

s (''kāfé'') made for particular sea game – the smallest around 20–30 cm are made to kill sharks, turtles and rays while the largest at 48 cm are for

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

s (''kotekĕlema''). Across the strait is the island of Lembata, where the village of Lamalera also hunts from the deep sea trenches of the

Savu Sea The Savu Sea (or the Sawu Sea) (, , ) is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu (Sawu) on its southern boundary. It is bounded by Savu and Raijua to the south, the islands of Rote and Timor (split between East Timor and ...

, particularly known for its hunting of the sperm whale from small open boats. This is allowed under

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

regulations around

aboriginal whaling Aboriginal whaling or indigenous whaling is the hunting of whales by indigenous peoples recognised by either IWC (International Whaling Commission) or the hunting is considered as part of indigenous activity by the country. It is permitted unde ...

but conservationists worry that commercial whaling is also done. Lamalera and Lamakera are the last two remaining Indonesian whaling communities. In 2016, the Manta Trust, Misool Foundation and ReefCheck Indonesia developed the Lamakera Project with the purpose to find sustainable alternatives to the traditional

hunting.

Tourism

As part of the documentary film ''

'', the cast members convinced the village to start the tourism industry. Despite the film's release in 2015,

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

has listed all manta ray species in 2013. Indonesia has made it illegal to harm a manta ray. The village has turned all of its fishing boats into

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...

boats. Tourism made overcrowded the sites of manta rays, increasing significantly the likelihood of boat accidents. By way of this, the local community started to plan the touristic flows in a way more sustainable for the local environment.

Demographics

Most of the island, especially the east, is, like the rest of Indonesia, predominantly Muslim.

References

{{coord, 8, 26, S, 123, 10, E, display=title, region:ID_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in East Nusa Tenggara Solor Archipelago Villages in East Nusa Tenggara Populated places established in 1520