The Haenyeo – literally "sea women" – are a group of women who live on Jeju Island, South Korea’s largest island where a unique culture holds on to life. These women, ...

The all-female Korean Haenyeo divers show genetic adaptations to cold-water diving involving their blood pressure and cold tolerance. It's "like they have a superpower," says one of the researchers.

For their research, Ilardo and her colleagues recruited 30 Haenyeo divers, 30 non-diving women from Jeju and 31 women from the South Korean mainland. The average age of the participants was 65.

The Haenyeo, an all-female group of divers on South Korea’s Jeju Island, spend much of their lives underwater without equipment—a “superpower” that may be written into their DNA ...

A group of Haenyeo pose for photographers as they perform a demonstration during a media event on November 6, 2015. The term "Haenyeo," or "sea women," refers to women who use free-diving ...

Now, scientists have confirmed that the Haenyeo, renowned for their remarkable diving abilities in frigid waters, are another such population that has “evolved for diving”.

Song Ji Hyo’s Haenyeo Adventure' last month, BBC Studios Asia is set to co-produce another Korean show, '12 Seas' (working ...

To figure out if the Haenyeo’s diving abilities are aided by differences in genetics, the researchers measured physiological variables related to diving ability, such as blood pressure and heart rate.

The Haenyeo, a group of all-female divers from the Korean island of Jeju, are renowned for their ability to dive in frigid waters without the aid of breathing equipment -- even while pregnant. A ...

For generations, the all-female Haenyeo divers have routinely dove into frigid waters off the coast of South Korea, holding their breath for minutes at a time, as they collect seafood to eat and sell.

The Haenyeo’s diving prowess didn’t come down to genetics alone. The study also found that the female divers had a slower heart rate than non-divers during the tests — a factor that would ...

Often likened to mermaids in media reports and popular culture, South Korea’s famed Haenyeo (“sea women”) spend much of the day underwater, diving without scuba gear to collect abalone ...