Moen Lanke a, Bajau fisherman, moments after a stint freediving for clams. In order to get around the problem of equalising (a technique used by scuba divers to balance the pressure of the inner and outer ear at depth), it is common practice amongst Bajau to intentionally burst their eardrums at an early age with deafness in old age being the likely consequence. The Bajau (Bajo) Laut are an ethnic group of Malay origin, they have for centuries lived out their lives almost entirely at sea, plying a tract of ocean between Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.