Articles for tag: Marine Traditions, Ocean Women, South Korea Divers, Superhumans, Women of the Sea

Scientists Unlock the Secret Behind South Korea’s 80-Year-Old Sea Divers

Jan Otte

For hundreds of years, the women of South Korea’s Jeju Island have dived into freezing seas, diving as deep as 10 meters (33 feet) without oxygen, in search of abalone, sea urchins, and octopuses. They are called Haenyeo, or “women of the sea,” and they keep up this physically demanding labor well into their 80s, ...