You’re looking at a group of Korean all-female free divers
who harvest sea life without the use of any modern technology.
They’re called “haenyeo,”
which translates to “sea woman.”
They come from generations of sea women,
serving as breadwinners and the backbone
of the island’s economy since the 17th century.
In this group, ages range from 50 to 90 years old.
The story of the sea women is emblematic
of Korea’s resilience through colonialism
and the Cold War.
Now, rising sea temperatures are their biggest threat.
The priority for the haenyeo
is protecting the ocean’s well-being.
I’m here because my own grandmother
was a haenyeo before giving birth to my dad,
and I’m hoping to learn what her life
may have been like from what could be
the last generation of haenyeo.
We’re in Jeju Island —
located here, south of the Korean Peninsula.
We’re following a group of haenyeo
who live and work in this district.
With decades of experience and practice,
the women free dive up to seven hours a day,
using only a buoyancy device called a “tewak,”
a net and a simple tool to help them pick up sea life from rocks.
Each haenyeo can hold their breath for up to one to two minutes at a time.
Most people can only hold their breath for around 30 seconds.
This 86-year-old woman was capable of diving for hours,
even though she needed help walking.
During the days we followed the group,
they were on a mission to harvest conches
and “hijiki,” a type of sea vegetable.
Conches are a type of turban sea snail.
They're one of the main harvests and sources of income for haenyeo.
Meet Young-ae Lee, the leader of the district’s haenyeo.
Like many of the others, she followed in the
footsteps of other women in her family to become a haenyeo.
The work of haenyeo began on Jeju Island
dating all the way back to the Joseon Dynasty in the 17th century.
But there was one incident,
known as the April 3 massacre,
that emphasized the role of
haenyeo as breadwinners.
In 1948, just three years after Korea gained
independence from Japanese colonial rule,
people on Jeju protested the division
of the Korean Peninsula.
Keep in mind, this was happening during
the Cold War and the move to divide Korea
was supported by the United States.
In response to the opposition,
and claiming to suppress a communist insurgency,
the U.S.-installed government of South Korea
killed at least 30,000 people.
It wiped out 10% of the entire island’s
population in six years.
Many women on the island were left
to fend for their families.
That’s when the haenyeo’s work became vital
to the island’s recovery.
At that time, my grandmother was in her early 20s,
and became a Jeju haenyeo.
Through their hard work, the women
have been able to send their children
to bigger cities for different jobs.
My grandmother, too, had the means to raise
my father in the nation’s capital, Seoul.
And later, he was able to support me
to study in the U.S.
This is all part of the reason why there are fewer daughters carrying on the tradition.
But there are still women on the island who want to carry on the hanyeo’s legacy.
On the weekends, Young-ae teaches class,
hoping to foster the next generation of sea women.
Today’s class starts with learning how to cleanse your senses with mugwort.
This is the students’ first day learning how to free dive.
This school has been around since 2008
as part of a solution to the dwindling haenyeo population.
There were around 3,600 haenyeo left
on the island in 2020 and
the number is decreasing every year.
But not everyone is able to become a haenyeo.
The school says out of 800 graduates,
only 5% have become sea women.
Fewer women become haenyeo mainly because
there’s just less to harvest.
Every year, the waters on the island are warming
as much as 2.6 times the global average,
altering life under the sea.
After hours of looking for conches,
the women closed their workday disappointed.
Most of the conches are exported to Japan as a delicacy,
but the women are trying to popularize the dish in Korea
so they can be less dependent on foreign exports.
On another part of the island,
climate and haenyeo expert Woo-jeong Noh
showed us just how severely the habitat has been affected by the climate crisis.
So this right here is a sign of climate change
and it has now covered this entire beach.
A beach once crowded with people has now closed
due to this harmful sea lettuce.
It’s killed off various forms of life underwater.
Because the ocean’s health is at the heart of their work,
the women have resisted adopting advanced tools — all to prevent overfishing.
In order to further ensure the ocean’s sustainability,
haenyeo operate under strict, self-imposed rules.
For example, there are dedicated harvest periods
for each type of sea life in order to avoid
overfishing and to ensure the ocean
has time to replenish.
At the end of the workday, they amassed their harvest and split the profits equally.
In a world facing a global crisis of changing habitats,
the women’s methods offer a pathway to a healthier environment.
Although my grandmother has now passed away,
from watching the haenyeo up close,
I was reminded of her resilience
as the matriarch of the family.
Most of all, I was humbled by the women’s
selflessness and commitment to protecting the ocean.