Weird sightings close to Kupang Indonesia

[Matty.VS]

Hello all!
Not sure if this is the right place to post this but it’s a weird question anyway.
We (my partner and I) are cruising around Indonesia and just left Kupang (south Timor) direction Sumbawa. Around 5 miles NW of Semau we sighted a couple wooden rafts, strait out of the movie “cast away”. Coming closer it looks like a person standing on the raft, but it is actually some kind of a scarecrow mounted on these strange rafts. At first I was alarmed, but it appears no one is on the rafts and we sighted 3 of them by now…
Anyone else has seen these things and knows what they are for? They kinda spook me out a bit!

[Emmalina]

Fads mate

[JPA Cate]

Fish Aggregation Devices?

[wholybee]

Sounds like Fish Aggregation devices or FADs. Be very careful in Indonesia, as they are often not lit, and are literally everywhere.

I had a cool experience asking a fisherman about them, and asked if I could see one up close. He took me out to one in his boat with his crew, and I got to be on it with them as the worked the nets.

[skipperpete]

Your next surprise might be “explosive fishing”, the fishermen make carbide bombs and drop em on the reefs then either wait for what floats up but more often do a free dive to collect the stunned or dead fish. The shock wave hits a yacht like someone just hit the hull with a sledgehammer. I encountered this at/near Labuan Bajo and later at Bima. The first time is a real surprise and it took us a while to figure out what had just happened.
The fishing rafts are perplexing, often manned by a child and anchored but if the weather gets bad and the raft breaks free it drifts aimlessly until someone rescues the hapless fisherman and the question is, do you want to be that rescuer? Often that involves a diversion from the planned route and a complicated discussion with the authorities.

[JPA Cate]

Do you want to be that rescuer? Often that involves a diversion from the planned route and a complicated discussion with the authorities.

Yes, then the authorities might see it as your responsibility to return the child or the raft to its village, and goodness knows where that might be and how inconvenient it might be. Especially difficult where you don't speak the language. Time to imagine how to communicate with the child via sign language....

Ann