Women who free dive to harvest seafood are called "Haenyeo" in South Korea. But on Jeju Island, their numbers are dwindling.

A couple of years ago, Melissa Ilardo found herself aboard a motorboat traversing the ocean around Jeju Island, which sits some 50 or 60 miles off the coast of South Korea. Before the vessel had even ...

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, octopus, kelp ...

A new DNA analysis of Korea’s all-women extreme divers has uncovered genetic adaptations that uniquely protect them from the intense stresses of plunging into coastal waters without oxygen. The ...