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Airdate: The Last Mermaids

This doco profiles South Korean women who, across generations, have dived 20 metres into the sea -without oxygen tanks.

2016-12-07_2221

Documentary film The Last Mermaids profiles the women of Jeju Island in South Korea who across generations have dived for sustenance 20 metres into the sea -without oxygen tanks.

These divers, known as haeynyos, free-dive for abalone, conch, octopus and seaweed. They dive without oxygen tanks, plunging up to 20 meters in the water, holding their breath for up to two minutes at a time.

Ok-Sun Hyun, an 83-year-old haeynyo, jumps into the sea with a leaded belt and sharp knife, and skilfully picks abalone, top shell, and octopus. As the best diver in Jeju Island, she can dive 20 metres deep into the ocean. For 65 years, she hung between life and death, only hanging onto a small wooden board for a life jacket.

New-York-born 32-year-old Kimi Kim is one of the young women among the old divers. Inspired by a glimpse of a diver who swam at night, Kimi fell in love with Jeju Island and decided to be a diver.

But diving is painful and lonely work. Today, there are only a few divers around the world, and in Jeju Island, there are 2,000 active divers left.

8.00pm Wednesday, 14 December on NITV.

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