Logline

一名海龜研究者前往印尼卡伊島，紀錄瀕臨絕種的太平洋革龜族群，他在親身經歷當地原住民獵捕革龜的文化後，重新思考保育與傳統、人與海洋的共生關係。

In Indonesia’s remote Kei Islands, a travelling sea turtle researcher witnesses an ancient indigenous hunt, questioning where modern conservation meets ancestral tradition.

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Synopsis

蘇淮花了十年時間，潛入海龜的世界。作為一名台灣潛水教練與自學成才的海洋生物研究員，他創立了「海龜點點名」，建立起一套大眾皆能參與的海龜相片辨識系統，至今已成功記錄並追蹤超過八百隻海龜。對他而言，每一隻海龜都有獨一無二的面孔、歷史與故事。

然而，主要生活於遠洋的革龜始終罩著一層神秘面紗，極難在水下目擊。在小琉球記錄海龜多年後，蘇淮開始好奇其他地方「海與人」的相處模式。得知印尼卡伊群島保有傳統捕革龜習俗、並有機會親眼見到牠們水下的身影時，他決定跨出熟悉的領域。帶著對當地獵捕儀式、民間傳說的好奇與開放的心態，他踏上了這趟純粹去親身經歷的探索之旅；在當地，革龜被尊稱為「Tabob」。

在卡伊群島，蘇淮發現 Tabob 並不單純是一種瀕危動物。對當地的原住民而言，革龜早已深深融入他們的歷史、信仰以及與海洋的連結之中。在這裡，關於 Tabob 的知識並非存在於資料庫或科學文獻裡，而是透過代代口耳相傳。

當蘇淮登上原住民的小船一同出海尋訪革龜，卻親眼見證了一場 Tabob 的捕獵過程。這場遭遇逼使他陷入無法僅憑科學研究解答的矛盾之中：他遠道而來試圖理解與守護的生物，如今卻成為當地傳統儀式的核心。保育、生存、文化與身份認同之間的界線，在此刻變得無比模糊。

隨著與當地社群共同生活，蘇淮開始反思自己過去所秉持的假設：保護一個物種究竟意味著什麼？誰又有權力去定義這種保護？當一個物種與一個社群的身份認同密不可分時，拯救其中一方是否也能拯救另一方？

《尋革龜》記錄了蘇淮的旅程：從透過觀察與數據來認識海龜，到直面一種無法被簡化為數據的自然關係。本片並非試圖對這項捕獵行為做出道德審判，而是選擇停留在這段遭遇所帶來的沉重與不安之中，引導我們思考：當我們允許看待自然世界的不同方式彼此並存時，我們能從中學到些什麼？

For a decade, Su Huai has immersed himself in the world of sea turtles. A Taiwanese diving instructor and self-taught marine researcher, Su founded TurtleSpot Taiwan, a citizen science photo-identification platform that has successfully catalogued and tracked over 800 individual sea turtles. To him, every turtle carries a unique face, history, and story.

Yet, the ocean-roaming leatherback turtle remains an enigma, rarely seen underwater. After years of documenting sea turtles in Lambai Island, Su Huai grew curious about how human-ocean relationships differ around the world. Learning that the remote Kei Islands in Indonesia preserve an ancient tradition of leatherback hunting, offering a rare chance to see these giants underwater, he decided to venture beyond his familiar domain. Driven by curiosity about local rituals, lore, and an open mind to simply experience the journey firsthand, he set off for Kei, where the leatherback is known locally as Tabob.

In the Kei Islands, Su discovers that Tabob is far more than just an endangered species. For the indigenous people, the turtle is deeply woven into their history, spiritual beliefs, and connection to the sea. Here, knowledge of Tabob does not reside in databases or scientific literature, but is passed down through generations of oral tradition.

When Su boards a traditional wooden boat with local villagers to search for the leatherback, he unexpectedly witnesses a traditional Tabob hunt. The encounter forces him into a profound moral contradiction that scientific data alone cannot resolve. The very creature he travelled so far to understand and protect lies at the centre of a sacred ritual, blurring the lines between conservation, survival, culture, and identity.

As Su lives alongside the community, he begins to challenge his own long-held assumptions: What does it truly mean to protect a species? Who has the authority to define that protection? And when a species is inextricably linked to a community’s identity, can saving one mean saving the other?

Seeking Tabob chronicles Su’s journey from understanding nature through observation and data to confronting a relation with the natural world that defies simple categorisation. Rather than delivering a moral judgment on the hunt, the film leans into the discomfort of the encounter, inviting us to reflect on what we might learn when different ways of knowing the natural world are allowed to coexist.

Labs & Grants

• 2025 National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF) Documentary Grant | Taiwan