He set out from the beach around midnight, packing his camera, a coconut and a can of Diet Coke. Mykhailo Polyakov – then 24 and a native of Scottsdale, Arizona – pointed his inflatable dinghy(充气小艇) out towards the open water, keeping his speed slow in the hope of(怀着…的希望) avoiding detection.
午夜时分，他从海滩出发，带上相机、一个椰子和一罐健怡可乐。米哈伊洛·波利亚科夫——当时24岁，亚利桑那州斯科茨代尔人——驾驶充气小艇驶向开阔水域，放慢速度，希望不被发现。
After hours of motoring(驾驶（车辆或船）) across the Bay of Bengal, his destination came into view: a low-lying island, narrowly separating sea and sky. With the sun now high above him, Polyakov cut the engine and set his GoPro to record. “So, the goal,” he said, squinting towards the blinding-white beach. “Introduce this Palaeolithic(旧石器时代的) tribe to modernity … Let’s land on this bitch.”
在孟加拉湾行驶数小时后，他的目的地映入眼帘：一座低洼的岛屿，几乎将海天分隔开来。此时太阳已高悬头顶，波利亚科夫关掉引擎，将GoPro设置为录像模式。“那么，目标，”他眯着眼望向刺眼的白沙滩说道，“让这个旧石器时代的部落接触现代文明……让我们登上这个鬼地方吧。”
Polyakov was nearing North Sentinel Island, part of the Andaman archipelago(群岛) governed by India. Venturing within 5km (3 miles) is strictly prohibited, let alone(更不用说) setting foot on shore, and authorities routinely patrol the surrounding waters. But Polyakov saw himself as on a mission(肩负使命): to see – and, more importantly, film – the Indigenous people who live there.
波利亚科夫正接近北桑提内尔岛，该岛属于印度管辖的安达曼群岛的一部分。进入5公里（3英里）范围内被严格禁止，更不用说踏上岸边，当局定期巡逻周边水域。但波利亚科夫认为自己肩负使命：去见识——更重要的是，拍摄——生活在那里的原住民。