How long can Bajau divers stay underwater?

13 minutes
Meet the Bajau sea nomads — they can reportedly hold their breath for 13 minutes. The Bajau people’s nomadic lifestyle has given them remarkable adaptions, enabling them to stay underwater for unbelievable periods of time.

What adaptation do the people of Bajau have?

These ‘Sea Nomads’ Are The First Known Humans to Have a Genetic Adaptation to Diving. The deepest dive recorded by the free-diving Bajau Laut people of Southeast Asia was to an impressive 79 metres (259 feet), and the longest time spent underwater by them was just over three minutes.

What accounts for the diving abilities of the Bajau?

Bajau people have developed larger spleens compared to other human populations. This advantage helps them when they are diving in the ocean to collect shellfish from the sea floor. The bigger spleen makes more oxygen available in their blood for diving.

How would humans evolve if they lived underwater?

Living underwater could also change human beings. Human bodies would be bigger to limit heat loss. They would likely grow webbed fingers and toes. Eventually, people would have fused legs and larger eyes.

What’s the longest a person can hold their breath underwater?

24 minutes and 3 seconds
While some studies say most people can hold their breath for 30 seconds to maybe a few minutes at most, Aleix Segura Vendrell of Spain, the most recent Guinness World Record holder, held his for an astonishing 24 minutes and 3 seconds while floating in a pool in Barcelona.

What’s the longest a human can hold breath underwater?

24 minutes 3 seconds
With the benefit of breathing pure oxygen first, the current Guinness World Record for holding your breath underwater is held by Aleix Segura of Spain at a whopping 24 minutes 3 seconds! Most people in good health can hold their breath for approximately two minutes.

Where do Bajau divers live?

The Bajau Laut are a Southeast Asian people that have lived for centuries in the seas around Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Does the Bajau diver example demonstrate natural selection how?

In a striking example of natural selection, the Bajau people of South-East Asia have developed bigger spleens for diving, a study shows. The Bajau are traditionally nomadic and seafaring, and survive by collecting shellfish from the sea floor.

How are Bajau people different?

In fact, they’ve evolved to live on and under the water in ways that make them scientifically distinct from other human beings. Research published in the journal Cell in 2018 found that the Bajau people have spleens 50 percent larger than the average human of neighboring areas.

Why do Bajau people have bigger spleens?

Certain species of seals that dive for longer than others have disproportionately large spleens, Ilardo explained. When seals dive, their spleens contract and push out oxygenated red blood cells, giving the body an oxygen boost. Bigger spleens can hold more blood cells, making more oxygen available.

Can humans adapt to living underwater?

No. Practically we don’t breathe through our skins,as fishes and other water creatures that get their required oxygen from the dissolved oxygen in water which enters their bodies through perforations in their skin. We are not adapted to do so, and hence its not possible for humans to live under water.

What are the benefits of living underwater?

Learn seven health benefits of pursuing a vibrant lifestyle near the water below.

• You breathe fresh air.
• You strengthen your immune system.
• You sleep better.
• You increase your white blood cell count.
• You experience greater happiness.
• You relax.
• You lengthen your life.

How did the Bajau adapt to their environment?

Some researchers suspect the Bajau only began diving to great depths when a market for sea cucumbers opened up in China in the 1600s. Or perhaps the adaptation began thousands of years earlier, at the end of the Ice Age, when rising sea levels turned the region around Indonesia into islands.

Did sea-dwelling people evolve to deep dive?

A study suggests these sea-dwelling people have evolved adaptations to deep diving. We are the products of evolution, and not just evolution that occurred billions of years ago. As scientists peer deeper into our genes, they are discovering instances of human evolution in just the past few thousand years.

Why did Bajau people evolve bigger spleens for free-diving?

Bajau people ‘evolved bigger spleens’ for free-diving. The bigger spleen makes more oxygen available in their blood for diving. The researchers have published their results in the academic journal Cell. Located close to the stomach, the fist-sized spleen removes old cells from the blood and acts as a biological “scuba tank” during long dives.

What is a Bajau diver?

A Bajau diver hunting fish underwater using a traditional spear. The Bajau Laut, a sea-faring hunter-gatherer tribe with a 1,000-plus year history in the Southeast Asian islands, are known for their remarkable free-diving ability.