The city of Al Khobar has long been known of petroleum but what some may not know is that before oil discovery the city of Al Khobar was known for pearl gathering from the Arabia Gulf. People from other cities of the gulf would travel to this part of the world to gather pearls from the gulf and sell them to get richer. The proses of gathering the pearls was a long one and indeed a painful one for the divers family because when the ship sails it takes a long time to come back home sometimes months and divers could die while diving. So it was not easy at all. My grandfather has worked in that filed when he was a young boy. And during one of his trips to dive for pearls he got his finger bitten by a fish so latter they had to cut of part of his finger. Later my grandfather became one of the most known captains in that industry.
This is a very old film that shows the proses of gathering the pearls. At the background you hear the traditional music played only in that season to motivate the divers. It is also part of the city’s culture.