The next morning, the beach looked terrible as if a bulldozer ran all over. A proper way to catch crabs requires the use a cage with bait. Without having cages, Miyoko’s and Michael’s attempts were fruitless.  Was it a horrifying night for the tiny crabs, or was it a night they laughed out loud at the human’s unbelievably slow movements?

   Today is a sunny, hot day with no cloudsbut with strong wind. The tide was big.  By the time Michael was ready to go out to the sea, the tide ebbed far below the beach. Just like yesterday, the reef near the horizon was hit by large waves and high spray.  You can hear thunderous rumblings each time waves hit the reef. Michael wore diving shoes, held a google, snorkel, flippers, and spear gun in his hands, tied a knife to his legs, and wrapped a rope around his waist in case if he catches fish. Michael was wearing only short pants, no shirt.

   "Be careful. Don't try to do something heroic." Miyoko said to Michael. Outside of the reef is called a drop-off, a steep cliff to the open ocean. Many fish congregate there. Michael is aiming for the drop-off. However, the drop-off is often dangerous with strong currents. Rough days like today, ocean currents are unpredictable. Once one is caught in the current, it is difficult to swim backto the safer zone.  Michael nodded and waved to Miyoko and walked into the shallow sea. Michael was steadily moving away, but the water was still around his knees. Michael may not have to swim until he reaches the reef. Miyoko was sitting on the bench and watching Michael as he walked away, but when she looked away only a moment and looked back, Michael was nowhere in the lagoon.

   Miyoko could have worked on the textbook. She thought, however, since Michael was looking for food, she may look for something to eat as well. Various creatures are left behind in the low ocean tide. There are many colorful starfish, but humans do not eat them. Black sea-cucumbers are also rolling around. Sea-cucumbers may be a delicacy in Japan, but Miyoko doesn't feel like eating them.  She considers them a crunchy, tasteless creature.  How about sea urchins? Someone had told Miyoko that the sea urchins she sees around here are edible.

    Miyoko got up and prepared to go out to the lagoon. She wears diving shoes and gloves, holds a bucket. She put on a long-sleeved shirt without a hat. The sand in Palau's beach is pure shining white, one gets suntan even from below. A hat is useless.  Besides, on such a windy day, the hat just does not work.

    Various creatures were left behind in the shallow lagoon. Miyoko found a plump and round cowry shell. It was not big, but it had a nice dark color with clear yellow spots. Miyoko decided to bring this cowry back. The cowry has a poisonous needle. Miyoko carefully picked it up with her gloved hand and put it in a bucket. After walking for a while, the sea was still calf deep.  Then, she feltcrashing of something delicate under herfeet.  When she crouched down and looked closely, there were a lot of pen shells.  She stepped in a large colony of pen shells.  A pen shell is a 20 cm long, elongated triangular bivalve that resembles a half-open fan. The shells are very delicate. The shellwas waiting for the tide to rise, with its hinges down and its delicate edges slightly out of the sand. The crunching Miyoko felt was the shell crushed under her feet. The sea is so shallow that she can't swim to avoid crushing these delicate shells.  Miyoko bent over and carefully dug up two pen shells. The feeling of the shell breaking was so painful that Miyoko decided to bring two back with her.

    At a distance further from the beach, shefinally found several sea urchins in a cluster. A few are not enough for a side dish for dinner. It seems that you have to search in a wide area to collect enough for a dinner. Around this time, Miyoko was almost dizzy forthe heat. The sky is too bright to look up. Miyoko scooped the warm seawater and put it on her head. She felt a little bit better, but not much.

    When Miyoko first came to Palau, she was very happy with the bright sea. She dived in the sea whenever she had free time.  She wasless concerned about the heat then because she was too happy to enjoy the corals and tropicalfish. Nowadays, the heat and strong sunshine bothers her.

   Miyoko threw the sea urchins into thebucket and decided to walk back to the beach for the time being. Escaping the heat before she faints was top of her mind. She was almost ran to the beach.  Miyoko first put seawater in the bucket and placed it in the cool shade. Then she almost fell over on the bench and waited for her dizziness to subside. A headache also started. Oh, by the way, what exactly is Michael doing in the reef with no shade, under such a scorching, punishing glare of the sun? Is he okay? Miyoko started seriously worrying about him.