Sama Bajau is what they call themselves.
This all suggests that natural selection has helped to shape the Bajau so that they can dive deeper and longer.
It would also be interesting to know whether the Bajau have other changes in their genes similar to those in most Tibetans.
Although the Bajau do not dive to these depths
or for this length of time during their day-to-day fishing, they spend up to 60% of their working life underwater.
Although the Bajau do not dive to these depths
or for this length of time during their day-to-day fishing, they spend up to 60 percent of their working life underwater.
An international team of researchers studied the Bajau and found they had significantly larger spleens
than the people of a neighbouring village who primarily farm rather than fish for their food.
Although the Bajau do not dive to these depths
or for this length of time during their day-to-day fishing, they spend up to 60 per cent of their working life underwater.
This was true even for members of the Bajau community that don't dive,
suggesting that it is an inherited trait rather than a change in individuals caused by a lifetime of diving.