By: Bima Prasena (photographer/@worldlifetravel)

The shouting became clearer, making us recall the incident a few days ago in Ur Pulau. Hopefully it won't happen again.

We were already moving early in the morning, even the sun was just waking up from its sleep. Splashes of water split by the boat's hull occasionally got inside, making our clothes wet. Om Udin, who was the captain of our small boat, was so calm while his hands occasionally played with the rudder at the back of the boat.

Today both Expedition teams headed to the furthest point in the operation, Team A headed to Tayando Island and we, Team B headed to Tanimbar Kei Island. These two areas of operation are at least a grueling 2 hour drive away, and we had to make up time when the waves were not yet rough.

We were quite lucky this time, due to the customization of the team members. Om Ongky who is a local son and works at the local Fisheries Department, knows this area very well, is also known to many people, is included in this Team B. The incident in Ur Pulau can be minimized (read: Search at the End of Sharp Parang). Let's hope so.

According to Om Ongky, Tanimbar Kei is the most distant village to Kei Kecil, quite isolated because the waves are quite fierce. Because of this natural condition, they are quite strict with other people's activities in their waters. Anyone doing activities there must ask permission first, if they don't want to be harmed. It's great, I thought, that they can protect their waters so well.< br />

Our boat could not move anymore, the corals were very clear, the water was only as high as an adult's calf. Unknowingly we entered an area fenced with long wooden poles, Om Ongky pushed the boat slightly forward, because our engine had been lifted up, it could not be used at this water level.

Almost 2 kilometers of low tide from the mainland, more precisely from Tanimbar kei village, where we were trying to get there to ask permission to dive in these waters. But it takes a very long time to walk through a reef like this, and waiting for the tide made us miss the calm water conditions for diving.

In the distance, several boats full of passengers shouted at us, Om Ongky who was walking between the reefs, suddenly stopped and returned to the boat. "Don't come here!" they shouted. Soon the water was filled with many people with long spears, shouting. We just stayed on the boat.

The people were getting more and more crowded, they were moving towards us. I looked around, to be able to calculate the distance between the boat and the deep sea and estimate the time for us to run, but we were almost in the middle of the receding water.

The morning sun, sometimes obscured by clouds, became hotter and hotter, trying not to panic became impossible.

Something was strange. The movement of the besieging people turned away from us, into a shallow pool between the reefs. They shouted louder and louder and then plunged their spears into the water, occasionally the laughter was very clear to me, as they lifted large fish that were already helpless at the end of the spear.

Thankfully, it was not us who were targeted again, but our boat was still silent, I looked down, someone was huddled tensely while covering his face. "Ocha, why?" I asked, "I don't want to hearrr" he replied. Apparently the screams still reminded him of the Ur Pulau incident. We just laughed.