Osolet Dive

In the towns and villages along the Osolet Fjord which are part of the Oso Cooperative it is fair to say that life revolves around fishing the great Oso fish that is found in abundance in the waters of the fjord and nearby. While the common way to catch the Oso is by dragging nets from their fishing boats, the tradition of spear fishing the great Oso is kept alive through the Osolet Dive ceremony that is celebrated each year to usher another set of young men and women into adulthood.
The Osolet Dive is said to pre-exist even the cooperative's founding and goes back to the days when the fisherfolk on the fjord were subsisting off their catches. As nets were very expensive to craft or acquire, many of those fishing had to resort to plunging into the icy waters to fish with spears. It was considered quite dangerous as a swim in the waters could cause hypothermia quite quickly and many were lost to the frozen depths. Those diving with the spears would do so from a 10 to 15 foot height when the shadow of an Oso crept by. A successful hunt ended with a speared fish on the end of a spear with a rope attached from the end of its haft to a rock on the waters edge.
Today's young adults conduct their plunges into the water under the watchful eyes of their elders but while very few come to any serious harm, many suffer hypothermia from the cold. Nevertheless, they still must dive into the water from the same height as their ancestors and spear an Oso and then haul it to shore with the attached rope. They have the entire day to succeed but if they are unable to accomplish the task by sundown they must wait a year before trying again.