User:Pbsouthwood/Women in underwater diving

Women in underwater diving is the contribution of women to any aspects of underwater diving. This is a large contribution, as there have been women involved in most aspects of underwater diving since the earliest times.

Ama
"sea women" (海女) are Japanese divers famous for collecting pearls, though traditionally their main catch is seafood. The vast majority of ama are women.

Japanese tradition holds that the practice of ama may be 2,000 years old. Records of female pearl divers, or ama, date back as early as AD 927 in Japan's Heian period. Early ama were known to dive for seafood and were honored with the task of retrieving abalone for shrines and emperors. Ama traditionally wear white, as the colour represents purity and also to possibly ward off sharks. Traditionally and even as recently as the 1960s, ama dived wearing only a loincloth, but in the 20th century, the divers adopted an all-white sheer diving uniform in order to be more presentable while diving. Even in modern times, ama dive without scuba equipment making them a traditional sort of freediver.

Haenyeo
Haenyeo are female divers in the South Korean province of Jeju, whose livelihood consists of harvesting a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean. Known for their independent spirit and determination, haenyeo are representative of the semi-matriarchal family structure of Jeju.

Traditionally, girls started training as haenyeo when they were 11 years old. Beginning in shallow water, trainees worked their way up to more challenging depths. After about seven years of training, a girl was considered a "full-fledged" haenyeo. The oldest are over 80 years old, and have been diving for more than 66 years.

Women divers' hall of fame
The Women Divers Hall of Fame (WDHOF) is an international honor society. Its purpose is to honor the accomplishments of women divers, and their contributions to various fields of underwater diving. Full membership is restricted to nominees who have been found to meet the WDHOF's criteria, which include being an underwater diver and having contributed to diving in ways recognised as being significant.

Recreational diving
The 2015 to 2020 statistics from PADI show ratios of about 35.8 to 38.4% women recreational divers by annual issued entry level and continued education certification, which is a large minority.

Scientific diving
In the United States as of 2005 there were an estimated 4000 scientific divers, of which about a quarter are female.

Researchers into diving physiology and medicine

 * . Researcher and author in exercise physiology and underwater physiology, cold immersion, saturation decompression and altitude decompression, and oxygen tolerance in humans.
 * . Researcher and author in exercise physiology and underwater physiology, cold immersion, saturation decompression and altitude decompression, and oxygen tolerance in humans.

Researchers in diving safety

 * – Diving physiologist and the Research Coordinator for the Divers Alert Network. researching recreational diving safety and education.
 * – Diving physiologist and the Research Coordinator for the Divers Alert Network. researching recreational diving safety and education.

Pioneers of diver training

 * Dottie Frazier American diver and dive shop owner; the first female scuba instructor and the first female dive shop owner.

Cave explorers

 * Jill Heinerth Canadian cave diver, underwater explorer, writer, photographer and film-maker

Environmentalists and scientific divers

 * Sylvia Earle Oceanographer and marine biologist (former Chief Scientist at NOAA), author and consultant

Navy divers

 * Mary Bonnin First woman US Navy Master Diver; US Navy diving instructor; naval diving safety advocate.