Produced by: Manoj Kumar
For over 1,000 years, the Bajau people have lived almost entirely at sea, floating in houseboats and hunting beneath the waves like real-life aquatic hunters.
Bajau free divers plunge 230 feet deep—no tanks, just wooden goggles and weights—holding their breath longer than almost any other known humans.
Scientists found the Bajau have a genetic mutation that gives them oversized spleens, boosting oxygen-rich blood for extended underwater survival.
Like deep-diving seals, the Bajau’s spleens contract to release oxygen into their bloodstream, giving them a biological edge beneath the waves.
Cambridge researchers say Bajau divers spend up to 60% of their day submerged—nearly an entire work shift beneath the ocean’s surface.
Higher thyroid hormone levels fuel the Bajau’s enlarged spleens—similar to lab-altered mice, proving how hormones can shape evolutionary traits.
Some Bajau claim they’ve stayed underwater for an astonishing 13 minutes, rivaling the longest-recorded human breath holds.
The Bajau’s way of life is under threat—lacking citizenship and facing overfished seas, their oceanic existence hangs in the balance.
Unlike most humans, the Bajau have physically adapted to their environment within a millennium, proving evolution can work faster than we think.