WHILE mermaids are a well-known determine in folklore, with their waist-long tresses and shimmering tails, their existence has lengthy remained a thriller. 

However on Jeju island, some 50 miles off the coast of South Korea, reside a gaggle of “real-life mermaids” who spend their days trawling the ocean’s flooring, harvesting seafood for hours on finish. 

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One of many group’s youngest, Sohee Jin, is main the subsequent era of mermaids – turning her again on days spent glued to an workplace chair, opting as a substitute for the ocean’s glistening and chilly waters.

Haenyeo ladies – “ladies of the ocean” in Jeju – have been diving to the seafloor with out oxygen for tons of of years, gathering fish to promote at market.

Their means to carry their breath for extended stretches of time and swim in harsh, chilly waters has been the topic of scientific marvel.

Breath holding is so integral to Jeju tradition that the language‘s brief phrases are sometimes attributed to the divers’ want to speak shortly after they break the ocean’s floor.

However now, analysis has revealed that Jeju’s ladies possess “superhero genes” that allow them to plunge tens of metres under the water’s floor and maintain their breath for as much as two minutes at a time. 

Dr. Melissa Ilardo, the research’s co-author, advised The Solar that she started investigating the Haenyeo divers round two years in the past – curious to study extra about their seemingly supernatural skills.

When she arrived on the distant island of Jeju, she was instantly struck by the ladies’s unwavering grit.

Unphased by the snow blanketing the ocean, they advised her they exit within the water “it doesn’t matter what”.

She stated: “When in first arrived in Jeju to do an preliminary go to, it was winter and really chilly.

“I drove by way of this port city and I noticed this Haenyeo strolling out of the water. The present was simply so sturdy, and it was so chilly.

“I simply could not recover from the actual fact it was winter and even with wetsuits that they had nonetheless carried out a full day of diving. 

“After I interacted with them I discovered that they had this unimaginable mixture of power, and likewise this femininity and a softness. It was simply actually stunning.”

Melissa was wanting to understand how the Haenyeo are able to enduring such excessive life and puzzled if evolutionary variations may need formed the ladies to be higher divers.

Joined by a crew of colleagues, she spent weeks evaluating the ladies with Jeju’s mainland inhabitants in a sequence of experiments the divers discovered “a little bit foolish”.

The outcomes have been astonishing.

Melissa discovered the Haenyeo coronary heart price fell by about 50 per cent greater than their non-diving counterparts.

As a result of their hearts aren’t working as arduous, the oxygen-filled blood can journey to their very important organs extra simply, permitting them to remain underwater for longer.

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In response to Melissa, the distinction between the 2 teams is all the way down to a lifetime of diving expertise.

The researchers then took saliva samples to find out any genetic variations between the teams.

Unbelievably, they discovered the divers and Jeju islanders all shared a selected gene that makes them extra tolerant to ache.

This implies they’ll climate far colder temperatures than the typical particular person.

Additionally they found Jeju’s inhabitants have a lot decrease blood stress than these in the remainder of South Korea, which may clarify why so few individuals die from strokes on the island.

In response to Melissa, that is seemingly as a result of all of Jeju’s inhabitants is descended from divers so all of them have an opportunity of carrying this protecting genetic variation.

For Melissa, these revolutionary findings is perhaps the important thing to serving to individuals world wide from avoiding this life-threatening situation.

She stated: “It is thrilling as a result of if we determine whether or not genetics is enjoying a job in how they’re protected, that would encourage therapeutics within the future that would assist individuals everywhere in the world.”

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Turning into a Heanyo includes rigorous coaching, which lots of the ladies start from as early as 10 years outdated.

And whereas traditions have developed (plunging in wetsuits fairly than white fabric vest) their work stays perilous.

In response to Melissa, all Haenyeo ladies dive whereas pregnant – with many nonetheless plunging to the ocean’s flooring proper up till their due date and returning simply days after giving beginning. 

They carry varied instruments to assist with their harvest, together with a heavy knife known as a bitchang, a small sickle, and a broad bladed knife for eradicating sea urchins. 

And on their tail, bobbing alongside the ocean’s floor, is their tewak – a small float connected to a internet the place they maintain their catch.

It’s unclear why no males partake within the spectacular but life-threatening work.

One concept suggests that ladies are inclined to have extra fats and the next shivering threshold, making them higher suited to work in chilly waters. 

It’s extra seemingly, nevertheless, that the ladies on Jeju island started diving when lots of the males have been conscripted to the military within the seventeenth and 18th century.

Introducing a brand new era

The dangerous and demanding nature of the work, nevertheless, has brought about a pointy decline within the variety of Haenyeo and fewer ladies in Jeju at the moment are turning to the custom as a supply of revenue.

Within the Nineteen Seventies there have been roughly 14,000 Haenyeo in comparison with simply 3,000 as we speak.

Whereas the vast majority of divers at the moment are of their 60s and 70s, two younger South Koreans are attempting to revive the century-old custom.

In a bid to encourage a brand new era of Haenyeo, Sohee Jin and Jungmin Woo, have – fairly actually – jumped head first into the job.

Sharing their ventures on-line to 1000’s of followers they reveal the on a regular basis quips and quirks of such extraordinary work.

Not like most Haenyeo, the ladies did not develop up in Jeju and learnt their diving abilities as adults.

Sohee moved to Geoje, an island off the east coast of South Korea from the bustling metropolis of Busan, after her aunt inspired her to turn out to be a Haenyeo.

Following a year-long apprenticeship, she met Jungmin on a ship and the 2 have been associates and diving companions each since.

Chatting with Erin Henderson media, Sohee stated: “I can by no means return to sitting in an workplace.

“After I dive, I come up from the water and witness each season round me from the water and it’s a ravishing feeling.”

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