Fish people or an amazing genetic mutation in the Bajo tribe (6 photos)

Almost 8 billion people live on our planet, among whom there are many who have unusual abilities. For example, representatives of one tribe living in the Philippines and Indonesia are able to hold their breath for as long as 13 minutes.





But how do they do it?

It's all about a genetic mutation that developed in their bodies due to the characteristics of their environment. After all, they have been living in the sea for many thousands of years...

"Sea Gypsies"

The Bajau tribe (you can also find the names Bajau and Badjao) was discovered by Europeans only in the 18th century. These people lived quietly and peacefully in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean, without causing any trouble to their neighbors.



Bajo houseboat

The Bajo tribe, which has been engaged in fishing and trading for centuries, has always been considered very peaceful and friendly. And since they always lived in floating houses and very rarely settled on land, they began to be called “sea nomads” or “sea gypsies.”

The Bajau tribe is actually quite large, numbering about 1.2 million today. But it is worth noting that only 10% of the aborigines lead a traditional “sea” lifestyle. With the advent of civilization, the rest chose to live on land or, at least, on the shores.

Born fishermen

Even today, the Bajau's diet mainly consists of fish, which they catch from the sea. Moreover, most often this is spearfishing, during which fishermen spend approximately 60% of the time underwater. We must admit that they are doing great. These people were literally born to dive.





Bajo people hunting octopuses

It turns out that Bajo fishermen depend entirely on their ability to hold their breath underwater, since this is the only way to catch the fish, shellfish or crabs on which they feed.

According to scientific research, the Bajau as a people became isolated about 15,000 years ago and since then have led approximately the same way of life. It seems incredible, but this time was enough for them to develop one feature that distinguishes the “sea nomads” from all other people.

The emergence of superpowers

An ordinary person without training can hold his breath for about 1-2 minutes, while representatives of the Bajau tribe can hold their breath underwater for 13 minutes and dive to a depth of 70 meters. And all this without diving equipment!



"Sea Village" Bajo

Of course, there are people who, using special techniques, can learn to hold their breath for 5, 7 and even 10 minutes. But the Bajo seem to be born for this, because they do not need any training.

It will sound strange, but for a long time no one studied this ability of the “sea gypsies”. Only researcher Melissa Ilardo from the University of Copenhagen became interested in it when she visited the island of Kaledupa in southern Indonesia in 2018 and learned about the Bajau’s ability to hold their breath for such a long time.

Beneficial mutation

Melissa Ilardo wanted to reveal the secret of the “underwater tribe” at all costs, so she began studying it. She was helped in this by two other researchers, Eske Willerslev and Rasmus Nielsen, from the same university as her.



Bajo people engage in shellfish harvesting

Their theory was that the "sea nomads" had a genetic mutation that helped them adapt to an aquatic environment, so they could hold their breath for longer periods of time than all other people.

To test their hypothesis, they took blood samples from 93 members of the Bajau tribe, who lived the most isolated lives and had not intermarried with members of other nationalities in recent years.

PDE10A gene

Through painstaking work, Melissa Ilardo and her colleagues were able to find out that one gene (PDE10A) in the DNA of representatives of the Bajo tribe is noticeably different from the same gene in other people.

In simple terms, this gene causes the thyroid gland to secrete more special hormones that cause the spleen to enlarge. In the Bajo it turned out to be 2 or even 3 times larger than the average size.



A Bajo child swims holding the tail of a fish.

There was already a hypothesis in the scientific world that the spleen plays an important role in situations where a person holds his breath for a long time, but it was Ilardo’s research that was able to prove this assumption.

The fact is that the spleen, among other things, performs such an important function as storing red blood cells, releasing them when the body is faced with a lack of oxygen.

This, in fact, helps the Bajo stay under water longer, because at the moment of hypoxia they have 2 times more additional red blood cells, which continue to supply the body with the remaining oxygen.