COLD OPEN

Two million years ago, underwater volcanoes started oozing molten lava into the sea. The gushing and glowing lava flows transformed into hard, volcanic rock that now make up the rugged coast of a small island named Jeju.

Located 50 miles from South Korea, Jeju Island is special to the people who have lived there for generations. Waves crash onto black sand beaches, birds fly past cliffs forged from volcanic activity, and fresh mist blows from the island’s many waterfalls.

And on the beaches… mermaids… Yes, mermaids!… sing and laugh before plunging into the cold sea waters to dive for valuable treasure.

These mermaids aren’t mythical figures…

They are real-life legends! They call themselves Haenyeo, which means women of the sea in Korean. Haenyeo uphold a tradition that dates back hundreds of years – all the way back to the sixteen-hundreds!

Today’s Haenyeo are mothers and grandmothers who learned how to freedive from their mothers and grandmothers. But this way of life is in jeopardy. Now, many Haenyeo are asking… who will be the next generation of mermaids?

I’m Rebecca Rose. And this is Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

A fairy tale podcast about the real-life rebel women who inspire us.

On this episode, the Haenyeo free divers of South Korea, and what it means to be a real-life legend.

Thirteen-year-old Youngmi stood at the edge of a rocky beach on Jeju Island, shivering in her thin cotton suit – the best technology available for diving in the 1950s. The cold sea stretched endlessly before her, dark and mysterious. Her mother stood beside her, suited up and ready to dive. Other women, too, were all preparing to make the plunge. But first they gathered to pray to Jamsugut, the goddess of the sea, asking for safety and an abundant catch. Freediving was physically demanding and sometimes dangerous. Youngmi felt nervous, but she grew confident standing with all the older women she looked up to.

“Today, you dive with us,” her mother said to her.

Youngmi had been watching the women of her family dive for as long as she could remember. When she was nine, they started training her – first in shallow tidal pools, then in deeper and deeper waters. She learned to hold her breath for minutes at a time, to read the moods of the sea, and to spot the green-purple glint of abalone shells hidden among the rocks.

When Youngmi was growing up, becoming a Haenyeo wasn’t a choice – it was survival. Jeju Island was one of the poorest regions of Korea, and the volcanic soil made farming nearly impossible. So collecting food from the sea was one of the few options for families to make a living.

Youngmi took a deep breath, filling her lungs with salty air. She dove headfirst into the icy water wearing only her cotton suit – she didn’t have a modern wetsuit or oxygen tank.

Youngmi was mesmerized by the lush world under the sea. Ten feet down, twenty feet down. Her lungs still full of air, she kept going, encouraged by seeing the older mermaids ahead of her. There – nestled in a crevice between rocks – was a cluster of sea urchins. She carefully pried them loose with a pointy tool. She had found her treasure!

When she surfaced, gasping and triumphant, the other Haenyeo congratulated her on her catch. She grinned ear to ear while she treaded water, and placed her treasure in a basket floating next to a buoy. She was so proud of what she was doing to take care of her family.

Youngmi had become a woman of the sea.

The tradition Youngmi joined stretches back centuries. Originally, both men and women would dive for shellfish and seaweed near Jeju Island. But in the 1600s, that changed.

During that time, many men started to leave the island. They were looking for work on the mainland or out at sea on long fishing expeditions. Some men were drafted into war.

Left behind, the women of Jeju turned to the sea for survival. This is where the Haenyeo tradition begins.

Abalone, sea urchins, seaweed, and octopus – these were just some of the underwater treasures divers could bring back to their families to eat – or sell at the market. Some days, Haenyeo split equally whatever the group caught – acknowledging that some divers collect more, and others collect less, but everyone needs to take care of each other and share the bounty of the sea.

In a society where women traditionally took care of raising the children, the Haenyeo divers became providers as well. They found the food, earned the money, and maintained the household at the same time. They did it all out of necessity. But in the process they found something unexpected. Amidst the cold waters and rocky shores, they found autonomy, strength, and respect. And a whole community of mermaids to share it with.

Do you think you could pass the test to become a mermaid? It takes a lot of hard work! A Haenyeo diver needs to be a strong, confident swimmer. They need to hold their breath for up to two minutes so they can quickly dive 60 feet down – that’s as long as a bowling lane! The mermaids plunge into the depths of the sea countless times until they have enough treasure to bring back to shore.

Today, there are fewer mermaids willing to take the plunge. When Youngmi was learning the way of the water, there were about 20,000 Haenyeo divers. Now, there are fewer than 3,300. Plus, most of the women diving today are elders who are over 60 years old. The modern mermaids are grandmothers and great grandmothers who have been training their whole life for the physical demands of diving. They have learned the wisdom of the sea out of survival.

Young women on Jeju now have choices their grandmothers never did – access to education and different career paths. Life as a Haenyeo is physically demanding and dangerous. Not many people want to make that commitment.

So who will take this tradition into the future?

A woman named Myeonghyo stepped up to the challenge to become a modern day mermaid, following in the tradition of her mother and her mother’s mother. She represents the next generation of Haenyeo.

Today Myeonghyo puts on her flippers and a modern wetsuit before plunging under the waves to search for mollusks and seaweed.

Like the Haenyeo of the past, Myeonghyo collects seafood to eat or sell at the market. But she says today’s Haenyeo also have another mission: to protect the environment. Through their careful observations, Haenyeo were some of the first people to witness the changing climate’s impact on our oceans.

After generations of diving, Haenyeo have a deep understanding and respect for the ocean and its rhythms. They can even predict the weather by watching the shellfish. When shellfish cling loosely to the rocks, for example, fair weather is ahead. But when they grip tightly, holding on with all their strength, it’s a sure sign that a storm is brewing. Haenyeo are careful to never harvest during mating seasons and to throw shellfish that are too young back into the ocean.

Myeonghyo believes this is how humans and nature can coexist in the future, just like past generations of Haenyeo. Through close attention, thoughtful management, and of course, respect.

In addition to being a Haenyeo, Myeonghyo is also a citizen scientist. This means she collects important information while diving and shares this information with a local climate science group. What she sees as a citizen scientist is very important. For example, she’s witnessed the spread of a type of coral that is normally found in warm, tropical waters. The local climate science group can use this information to tell government representatives to pay attention to how climate change is affecting the island.

The traditional knowledge passed down from one generation of mermaid to the next, means that divers like Myeonghyo and her mother can sound the alarm to the rest of us above water, and help protect our oceans.

To the women of Jeju, the long-standing tradition of free-diving is a way of life on the island. But in 2016, they were brought onto a global stage. A special agency of the United Nations recognized the Haenyeo divers as an Intangible Cultural Heritage! This was a very special title that meant there was something remarkably unique about these women and their cultural roots.

The recognition brought new support – government funding for diving equipment and educational programs to bring young people into the tradition. The Haenyeo Museum opened, documenting their history and techniques.

Young women began enrolling in Haenyeo schools – some women even moved from the South Korean mainland to become mermaids, learning the skills and developing the physical strength to free dive!
The Haenyeo taught the world something profound about resilience, sustainability, and the power of women working together. For nearly 400 years, they proved that humans can live in harmony with the ocean, taking only what they need and protecting marine life for future generations.
These real-life mermaids showed that courage comes in many forms – not just in diving 60 feet deep without breathing equipment, but in preserving traditions, honoring the environment, and working together to support one another. And, like the ocean, that’s a deep and powerful legacy.

CREDITS:
This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It’s based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

This episode was narrated by ME, Rebecca Rose . It was produced, written and fact-checked by Danielle Roth, with sound design and mixing by Carter Woghan. Ashton Carter directed the voice over.

The story was edited by Haley Dapkus. Our executive producers were Joy Smith, Anjelika Temple, and Jes Wolfe.

Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacch

A special thanks to the whole Rebel Girls team, who make this podcast possible! Until next time, staaaay rebel!