![]() ![]() When mammals hold their breath, the spleen contracts, expelling those cells and boosting oxygen levels by up to 10 percent. The spleen acts as a warehouse for oxygen-carrying red blood cells. That’s when she realized that the Bajau have unusually large spleens-50 percent bigger than those of the Saluan, a neighboring group who barely interact with the sea. On one trip, she brought along an ultrasound machine, and scanned the bodies of 59 villagers. She explained her work as a geneticist, went diving with them, and learned about their lifestyles. Over three trips in the summer of 2015, she got to know people from the Bajau village of Jaya Bakti in Indonesia. But Ilardo has found evidence that they are also genetically adapted to life in the sea. Their abilities are almost certainly shaped by experience and training. “I focus my mind on breathing,” he told the BBC. In the clip below, from the BBC documentary Human Planet, a man named Sulbin stays underwater for almost three minutes. The average dive lasts for just half a minute, but the Bajau can hold their breath for far longer. Each day, they’ll spend more than five hours underwater, capturing between two and 18 pounds of fish and octopuses. But those who do take the skill to an extreme. Not all of them dive some avoid it entirely. Sometimes, they rupture their own eardrums at an early age to make diving easier. They have no wet suits or flippers, and use only wooden goggles and spearguns of their own making. They collect their food by free diving to depths of more than 230 feet. Traditionally, they came ashore only to trade for supplies or to shelter from storms. Sometimes known as “ sea nomads,” the Bajau have lived at sea for more than 1,000 years, on small houseboats that float in the waters off Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. They have complete control of their breath and body. Underwater, the Bajau are as comfortable as most people are on land. “He pointed at it, and then he was there. She remembers diving with Pai Bayubu, who had already gone fairly deep when he saw a giant clam, 30 to 50 feet below him. In the summer of 2015, Melissa Ilardo got to see how good they are firsthand. The Bajau people of Southeast Asia are among the most accomplished divers in the world. ![]()
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