In Jeju, women descend below the surface to harvest marine resources without carrying an oxygen bottle. Haenyeo culture includes divers of very different ages, including some octogenarians in the description presented to UNESCO. Their work is based on apnea, then on repeated returns to the surface.
The body describes descents of up to ten meters, with breathing resumed after each dive. Women know the marine environment and the species they harvest. Their experience defines several levels, and the most advanced divers can guide others. It is a job and a transmitted knowledge, not a challenge to stay immersed all day.
Registered as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2016, this practice also involves families, schools and local organizations. The image of a single diver thus hides a collective fabric. What impresses is not a magical feat: it is a real activity, repeated in the sea, where the knowledge of the place counts as much as the breath.
What we know
Description UNESCO; working day separate from continuous apnea.
To go to the source
References accessed October 11, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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