90-YEAR-OLD FISHERMAN DEDICATED TO SAVE THE FUTURE BY COLLECTING PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE OCEAN

The 90-year old Wayan Nyo appears as though he has an interesting story to share of his life, and he does indeed. The fisherman who lives in Indonesia is a part of a beautiful culture that is extremely passionate about protecting the ocean, and he certainly plays his part.

Nyo has spent most of his life on the waters. Since he was a child he was though how to protect the ocean. Nyo gathers and carries his nets and mesh sacks to set his small boat on the coast of Bali each day. There he would listen to the waves, read the weather, track fish, and learn the rhythm of the ocean currents. The beautiful clear waters used to be a prime location for fishing, but since 21 years ago, Nyo devoted his life to rather clean up the ocean and collect what feels like a never-ending amount of plastic pollution from the ocean.

His hard work and dedication to save our waters and ocean life has not gone unnoticed. San Francisco-based director Dana Frankoff decided to document Nyo's cause in a short film which is titled Voice Above Water. 

Voice Above Water gives voice to the story of how one human is dedicated to make a difference. The film shows Nyo’s journey which reveals one man who turned his trade of fishing into one of cleaning the ocean. Nyo is dedicated to better the future for the generations to come so that they will once again be able to fish and feed their families and community.

Even though the short film is well, short, the story is so powerful and touching that it has won a comprehensive list of several awards thus far. Some of these rewards includes the recent First Time Film at the 2021 International Ocean Film Festival and Best Short Documentary at the 2021 San Luis Obispo Film Festival. 

The fisherman and his commitment to combating water pollution in Indonesia is undoubtedly inspiring, and Frankoff, who is also passionate about marine conservation and promoting sustainable changes in the world, added that Wayan’s story is a “reminder that if we all play our part we can accomplish something much greater than ourselves.” 

Watch the beautiful story of Nyo down below in the award winning short film, Voice Above Water.