The pearl divers of Qatar endured extraordinary hardships. Gone for months at a time, the pearl divers would be forced to forego washing to conserve fresh water while at sea and they had to survive on a diet solely consisting of fish. If they were lucky enough to survive their pearl campaigns, they would return home, sometimes with few pearls, and often severely malnourished and sick. The pearl divers were then forced to surrender half their product yield to colonial tycoons who would sell the pearls for enormous profits in distant markets.
Being a pearl diver also carried tremendous personal risk. Physically, the job was demanding and dangerous, requiring pearlers to quickly free-dive to extreme depths to retrieve oysters, before being quickly pulled to the surface by ropes, to maximize their time spent underwater. Due to the speed at which they plunged and subsequently resurfaced, many of the divers suffered from the bends. There was also always the risk of shark, swordfish, or barracuda attacks.
As we are living in an economy started by Pearls and it is our Pearl wedding anniversary, we have dedicated this event to those fantastic men of the past who dived day in and day out to harvest the perals from the deep sea.
In an attempt to emulate these great men, pearls are placed for finding in a similar fashion.