The Haenyeo, an all-female group of divers on South Korea’s Jeju Island, spend much of their lives underwater without ...

Often likened to mermaids in media reports and popular culture, South Korea’s famed Haenyeo (“sea women”) spend much of the ...

Scientists have investigated the unique biology of the Haenyeo, women from the South Korean island of Jeju who are known for their ability to free dive.

SEOUL – For centuries, women on South Korea’s Jeju Island have dived deep into the sea to harvest seafood to provide for ...

Jeju Haenyeo — which translates to "women of the sea" — begin diving for seafood at around the age of 15, gathering abalone, sea urchins and octopuses. According to UNESCO, members of the group ...

On Jeju Island, 50 miles south of the Korean peninsula, senior women regularly dive up to 60 feet beneath the ocean’s surface ...

Past work from Ilardo has shown that nomadic Bajau divers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines have especially large spleens. Even Bajau people who don’t dive seem to share this trait, ...

"Things like abalone, sea urchins … seaweeds sometimes ... Ilardo decided to compare the Haenyeo to other elderly women on Jeju Island who aren't divers but have a similar genetic background ...

although it’s unclear when exactly it shifted to only women. A diver from Jeju Island: a Haenyeo (woman of the sea) photographed circa 1954. Some historians think diving on the island goes back ...

What is more astonishing about these women is their age. Most of them range from 60 to 80 years old, and they still dive for ...

The all-female Korean Haenyeo divers show genetic adaptations to cold-water diving involving their blood pressure and cold ...

“Things like abalone, sea urchins … seaweeds sometimes ... Ilardo decided to compare the Haenyeo to other elderly women on Jeju Island who aren’t divers but have a similar genetic ...