South Africa's Coastal Communities Besieged by Oil and Gas

South Africa's coastal communities are being threatened by marine oil and gas projects. Scientists say the 3D seismic surveys, which are used to locate oil and gas, are harmful to marine life and may alter the migration patterns of mammals and fish alike. The latter would have serious consequences for the small-scale fishing communities that rely on the ocean for their livelihoods.

Beyond the immediate impacts of seismic blasting, climate change is making the lives and cultures of people who rely on the ocean more and more precarious in the long term. Coastal communities are therefore at the frontline of the climate crisis, which South Africa’s push for marine oil and gas extraction threatens to exacerbate.

Photographer and journalist Barry Christianson traveled to one community in each of South Africa's four coastal provinces for a series of four visual essays. The visual essays explore the connections people in those communities have to the ocean, which include cultures, spirituality, and livelihoods.