The world's first tribe to have adapted to live underwater is the Bajau people. They live at sea and forage for food on the ocean floor for the entirety of their lives. They are dispersed across the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, where they reside in makeshift stilt houses and aboard their boats. They have been living in this manner for more than a millennium, and all of their food is derived from the nearby seafood. This makes them labor underwater all day in order to capture fish, squid, shrimp, and crab.
In order to help the Bajau avoid discomfort when diving deep underwater, they puncture their eardrums in order to balance the pressure between their center and outer ears. On the other hand, piercing the eardrum can also impair their hearing and increase their risk of developing ear infections. The Bajau have to make this trade-off in order to survive underwater.
Their ability to dive for more than 13 minutes at a depth of 60 meters below the ocean floor is incredibly remarkable. How come they are able to achieve this? They have a considerably larger spleen than average humans, it turns out. It functions just like a biological scuba tank and has the capacity to pump extra oxygen into the blood. Their spleen is more than 50% larger than that of an average person.
What makes this trait unique is that it is present in tribe members other than divers, even young ones who have never dived. This indicates that they have adapted to dwell underwater more comfortably."
📃 An Indonesian Sama-Bajau fisherman swims to the surface of the Banda Sea holding an octopus he has caught.
James Morgan is credited.
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