Survivorman | Beyond Survival | Season 1 | Episode 2 | Sea Gypsies of Malaysia | Les Stroud

Cultural survival often requires traditions, rituals and rites of passages, but sometimes it can depend on none of those. Sometimes simple existence is nothing more than a constant hand-to-mouth struggle: the ever-present search for food. What happens when that struggle takes place in a boat? Every day you live, eat, breathe, procreate, defecate and socialize entirely in a small boat or small ocean stilted hut – 24/7, 365 days a year. This is the life of the famous ‘Sea Gypsies’ (Sea Bajau). They belong to no country; their allegiance to the sea. It is said they originate from the Philippians but have calling the waters of Borneo home for over 200 years. Beautiful yet dangerous, the ocean waters surrounding this area are highly contentious, a haven for pirates and pillagers. In April 2000, pirates kidnapped 21 persons, dive instructors and guests, from Sipadan Island itself. Today military bases dot every coastline, patrolling the waters to secure a fragile peace. Poverty-stricken, the Bajau have larg