Animals in Sea History by Richard J. King
seo jae chul, jeju provincial self - governing haenyeo museum
or the haenyeo, the traditional female divers of Korea’s Jeju Island, the abalone is not only a prized source of food and security, but is also a source of fear. Their work collecting these marine snails can be as dangerous as the threat from sharks along their volcanic coastline. Over the last three centuries, hundreds of these women have died in their efforts to capture abalone when diving into the cold waters at their island intersection between the Korea Strait, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea. There’s a saying among these divers: “Haenyeo live with their coffins on their backs.”
Haenyeo with abalone in 1976.
creative commons cc by
4.0, p.d.
Among the fifty or so species of abalone worldwide, the most common two captured by the haenyeo off Jeju Island (pronounced Cheh-jew) are the Pacific abalone, jeonbok in Korean, and the multicolor, known as obunjagi. With a hard oval shell protecting its body, the abalone’s organs encircle a single muscle, known as the foot, evolved to hold on to its shell and a rock.
Photo of abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) under water.
SEA HISTORY 177, WINTER 2021–22
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