A Glimpse of Sea Gypsy Life

At the end of 2025 I was extremely privileged to have a glimpse into the lives of the Sea Gypsies or Sea Nomads off the east coast of Borneo.

Sea Gypsies or Sama-Bajau peoples are a group of nomadic, seafaring peoples, living off the sea by trading and subsistence fishing in the area around Borneo, the Philippines and Indonesia. Today the majority have abandoned boat living and instead live in stilt houses in the coastal shallows.

The Malaysian government recognizes the Sama-Bajau as legally Bumiputera or indigenous peoples. However, in recent decades many Sama-Bajau peoples have fled discrimination in areas like Mindanao in the Philippines and Sulawesi in Indonesia and are now living as largely stateless, illegal immigrants in areas such as Sabah, East Malaysia (Borneo). Many lack birth certificates or identification documents, so the government does not officially recognize them as citizens. This status denies them access to public health, education, and legal employment. This in turn means that a significant number are illiterate, uneducated, and impoverished.

I have started as an advisor for a fabulous little startup company Seadling, based in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, developing functional ingredients that naturally enhance the well-being of animals, plants and humans. It is not just the ingredients that enhance this well-being but their whole business model is built around sustainability, and includes improving the lives of the Sea Gypsies.

Our commitment to sustainability is grounded in a vision for a world where the health of our oceans is central. Seaweed, often praised as ‘nature’s superfood’ and ‘a guardian of our oceans,’ stands out as a natural solution to address critical global challenges such as climate change mitigation, food supply security, economic stability, and the revitalization of diverse ecosystems.

• • Regenerating ocean health – collaborating with research partners, we investigate carbon interactions within marine ecosystems, focusing on seaweed’s potential for carbon sequestration.
  • Improving Community Livelihoods – we promote a circular model in coastal communities, encouraging a shift to sustainable seaweed farming that empowers farmers and improves livelihoods.
  • Empowering Women – with the potential for 50 million new jobs, we are committed to empowering women in the seaweed industry by providing them with relevant knowledge and skills.

Late last year I visited Seadling in Kota Kinabalu to get to know the company and its staff. I was also fortunate to be there at the same time as several of the other advisors (each advising in different areas of the business) including my friend Barbara who I used to work with in NZ. Barbara has been sailing around SE Asia for many years now so it was fantastic to be able to meet up with her in person.

Whilst the main part of the company is based in Kota Kinabalu (factory, laboratory and hatchery), we also travelled to Semporna on the southeastern coast of Sabah (which is where the highest concentration of Sea Gypsies live). Semporna is home to Tun Sakaran Marine Park (Semporna Islands Park) which features many islands and coral reefs, making it a marine diversity hotspot famous for dive sites such as Sipadan Island.

As you can see in the map above, there is a sea ridge that gives very shallow waters around the islands and then drops off steeply to either side. These shallow waters are perfect both for the stilt houses of the Sea Gypsies and for growing seaweed. Seadling produces high-health seaweed ‘seedlings’ that are provided to the Sea Gypsies, who grow them up ready for harvest and drying before the seaweed is sent to Seadling to turn into products.

We have a very early start with a 5.00am pickup for a very early flight to Tawau. The flight itself is only 30 minutes but then we have a one and half hour drive to Semporna. We drop our bags at the hotel and then head down to the wharf area where we board our dive boat to visit the seaweed farms. Thankfully the tide is still fairly high when we leave as we are able to travel directly to the seaweed farms – on the way back it is much too shallow and we have to go the long way around in deeper waters. We are also very lucky with the weather (there is a typhoon over Peninsula Malaysia and heavy rain in Kota Kinabalu) – the seas are calm and there is no rain. The area is just stunningly beautiful.

We visit the homes of several of the seaweed farmers delivering care parcels. We are invited up into some of the houses and meet the families (and cats). There are some lovely moments as Barbara shares a photo with a little girl whose family had provide a birthday cake on a previous visit, and another advisor brings a gift of a teddy bear to another little girl who had been very sad when she last visited. I learn about the different types of seaweed and see how the whole family is involved in tying the seedlings onto ropes and in the harvesting and drying later. At some houses we see nets where they are farming fish, and in other areas they have to put nets around the seaweed farms to stop the seaweed being eaten by turtles. We are initially concerned by the little children running around on the flimsy structures with lots of holes, but then we watch some jumping into the water – it is only up to their waists (at low tide).

Seadling have also been applying for local development grants to help rebuild more sturdy houses for the farmers, and also to help provide training, schools, shops and medical care. It is such a privilege to be involved with a company with such commitment to building the local community.