I wade into the water and push off the sandy bottom, feeling the cold water slip in and envelop my body. I kick my flippered feet, surveying the ocean bottom through the glass layers of my snorkel mask. The water in the bay is clear in the winter. Clear and cold.

I see a crab. Dungeness, the size of a dinner plate.

I dive down and swiftly grab it with my gloved hand. I surface with the creature, pull off my mask and inspect its alien form. I turn it over. The crab is male. It moves its claws in a threatening way, and I gently release it back into the ocean and watch it land on the ocean floor.