The 90-year old living mermaids of Korea – Times of India

The story of the mermaids just isn’t an altogether fable. It is perhaps a reality, within the guise of the Haenyeo, which is an unbelievable group of feminine free-divers that resides on Jeju Island. These ladies as we speak dive 10 meters into the freezing waters of the South China Sea with none trendy gear even when they’re already as aged as they are often. They’re the ’90-year-old mermaids of Korea.’ The diving ladies, nicely over 90 years of age, proceed to carry out unbelievable agility and endurance, bending and transferring gracefully underwater like true mermaids.

Who’re the Haenyeo ladies?

The Haenyeo is a particular group of female-free divers dwelling on Jeju Island.They’re primarily outdated ladies as we speak as a result of the youthful generations have opted for different careers. These divers dive as deep as 10 meters under the icy waters of the South China Sea with out assistance from air tanks and different trendy gear offering higher insulation. As one observes them , they can’t really feel the frost, as a result of their seen pleasure and contagious laughter make the seaside heat.
The Haenyeo are also known as the ’90-year-old mermaids of Korea’ as a result of most of them are very outdated, and their our bodies can bend like these of a mermaid in water.

When had been the Haenyeos first observed?

The primary accounts of the Haenyeo date again to 1629. For 350 years, they wore mulsojungi, that are cotton diving garments. It was within the Seventies that they began carrying rubber wetsuits. These divers collect shellfish reminiscent of abalone and sea urchins, in addition to kelp and different marine organisms, utilizing a knife or their fingers. These ladies effortlessly carry out organisms like octopuses of their arms, which is a pleasant sight for the vacationers.

Vary of the diving season:

For Jeju, the diving season is brief, ladies solely dive about 90 days a 12 months. They dive underwater for a number of minutes and at all times drag behind them an orange buoy in order that they are often situated by fellow divers. On return to the water’s floor, they make a whistling sound. Also referred to as the ‘Moms of the Sea’ and ‘Warriors in opposition to the Sea’, these ladies are categorised into three tiers of expertise: sanggun (most skilled), hagun, and junggun. The extra skilled divers information the much less skilled ones, instructing them within the essential respiratory approach known as sumbisori. The Haenyeo bond ceaselessly, dividing all harvests evenly and caring for one another’s
trials by life, being pregnant, sickness, and disaster.

Haenyeo’s arrange a matriarchal society

In distinction, the Haenyeo are the next social rank in South Korea’s patriarchal society. The the reason why free-diving turned out to be a female-dominated career on Jeju stay unclear, with theories together with males perishing in deep-sea fishing accidents or wars, to physiological benefits like ladies’s fats reserves offering higher resistance to chilly water. A semi-matriarchal society in Jeju had been reported since many households there used to depend on revenue introduced residence by the Haenyeo. This was additionally a time when ladies had been the breadwinners and males had been actually staying at residence to deal with the youngsters. This function reversal is also seen in dowry practices fee of cash or items to the bride’s household as an alternative of the groom’s. In contrast to mainland South Korea, households in Jeju typically most well-liked the beginning of child ladies over boys.

Present standing and the way in which ahead:

Lately, Haenyeo tradition has declined with elevated industrialization, new training and job alternatives for ladies, and the environmental degradation of Jeju Island. The tradition of Haenyeo was declared on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage checklist in 2016 due to its distinctive historical past and fast-rapid decline of feminine divers. It has introduced the individuals of this island a brand new vacationer trade, higher safety and funding of the ladies within the trade and the pure surroundings of the island. The federal government offers free healthcare, and the required diving gear, and has opened a diving faculty and museum. This new heritage standing has benefited the group; nevertheless, within the course of, the ladies have change into ‘dwelling artifacts‘ who carry out their work as spectacle items for vacationer audiences. Now, one pays to see them dive and even purchase their catch.