ABSTRACT
Breath-hold diving is also called 'snorkel diving' and 'free diving'.
Traditional breath-hold divers include: the female shell divers of Japan (Ama) and Korea (Hae-Nyo); the sea-men (Katsugi) of Japan; sponge divers of Greece; pearl divers of the Tuamotu archipelago and Bahrain, and the underwater warriors of the Persian, Xerxes, in the fifth century BC. More recently, the abalone and paua divers of the USA and New Zealand, spear fishermen worldwide and submarine escape tank operators of USA, Europe and Australia, illustrate the diversity and dangers of this type of diving.
