Corine leaned over the side of the boat. Her almond-shaped eyes gazed at the silhouette of her Uncle Elvis at the bottom of the sea. She curiously followed his slender frame as he checked the crawfish cages with a spear in his hand.

This was their task at the end of the week. Corine's uncle was a fisherman by trade. He relied on his cages to catch crawfish, which he sold at the local fish market.

The boat trip to the cage spot was an adventure for the aspiring 12-year-old marine biologist. She was curious about marine life and fascinated by the beauty and mysteries of the deep blue sea. Corine often wondered about the world beneath the sea.

She leaned over the side of the boat to get a better glimpse of the surface. SPLASH! Uncle Elvis emerged from under the water, startling young Corine as he climbed up the side of the boat. He put down his spear and a small, empty conch shell.

"The cages are empty, looks like we had some intruders," he said.

"Sharks?" asked Corine.

'No… Poachers," answered Uncle Elvis.

Uncle Elvis approached the small cooler at the back of the boat and opened it. Inside the cooler on the ice were four yellowtail snappers, two grunts, and a giant grouper.

"Not much for the market, but enough to keep we belly full this week," said Uncle Elvis as he closed the cooler.

Disappointed by his catch, he gassed up the boat to make his way back to the mainland. Summers in Congo Town, Andros were an adventuresome time for young Corine. She was a city girl who looked forward to escaping busy Nassau to enjoy the quaint pleasures of life in the settlement with her uncle.

Catchin' crab and picking hog plums, guineps, and other native fruits were some of her favorite things to do. What she enjoyed most were the short boat rides just five miles south of the island of Andros. Corine’s uncle lived in a small, blue, wooden house that stood on stilts. The house was about a 15-minute drive from the dock.

It was evening when the two arrived home from their day at sea. Uncle Elvis grabbed the fish cooler and carried it into the house. Corine brought the fishing supplies, which she stored in a small closet near the door. Tired after a long day, she made her way to wash up for the evening.

Uncle Elvis carried the fish cooler into the kitchen to prepare the fish for supper. He was a master at cleaning fish. In no time, the four yellowtail snappers and two grunts were scaled, cut, and cleaned into portions. Then they were seasoned and bagged for the week ahead. He took the giant grouper and filleted it.

It wasn't long before the aroma of coconut peas and rice, fried plantains, and grouper fingers filled the air. Uncle Elvis' grouper fingers were Corine's favorite dish, which he prepared as a reward after a long day spent on the sea.

Supper was served with a cold glass of homemade unleaded Gullywash made from fresh jelly coconuts from the yard. Uncle Elvis would take the juice and pulp out of the coconut and mix it with condensed milk and cinnamon. The sweet drink was served with crushed ice, making it the perfect finish to wash down the delicious meal.

After supper, it was time for bed. Corine looked forward to bedtime stories of island folklore told by her uncle. He brought the tales to life with his animated and theatrical storytelling. When Corine was already in bed, Uncle Elvis walked in and handed her the small conch shell that he found earlier that day. Corine was excited, as conch shells were scarce to find.

"Is this a—" she started to ask.

"Conch shell," said Uncle Elvis, finishing Corine's sentence. "It sure is. I haven't seen many of these around. Between the poachers and migration, by looking at the size of this shell, I reckon that conch is gone."

"Gone where?" asked Corine.

"We don't know," Uncle Elvis said. "It's a mystery, conch been disappearing for months. You could hardly find any in these waters."

Corine gasped as her eyes grew big. She looked at the shell and held it like it was a prized possession.

"I remember there was once a time when you could pick up conch from the bay. Back then, the conch was 25 cents at the market. In the olden days, you could find dozens of conch shells near the shoreline with the biggest, sweetest conch meat around. Now, conch is just a delicacy we could only dream of eating again." Uncle Elvis opened an old photo album. "See," he said, showing Corine photographs of the olden-day sea market.

"Ewww, you used to eat that? Gross!" said Corine.

"Yeen know what ya missing. If ya think my grouper fingers are the best, ya would love my cracked conch," laughed Uncle Elvis.

Corine flipped through the old photo album. "Uncle, what's that?" she asked, pointing at a photograph of a conch pearl.

"That, my dear, is a conch pearl," said Uncle Elvis. "A rare gem. To find a Queen Conch with one of them today, we could take the rest of the year off from fishing. In fact, if you look close enough in that shell, you might just find one."

Corine held up the shell to the light from the ceiling fan above to get a better look inside. As she held the conch shell over her face, sea dust fell in her eyes, making it difficult to see.

She opened her eyes again, and to her surprise, she was back on her uncle’s boat with the conch shell. The mainland could barely be seen, and Uncle Elvis was nowhere in sight.

"Uncle Elvis? Where... where are you?" she called.

Corine looked around the side of the boat, hoping to see Uncle Elvis' shadow at the bottom of the sea checking the cages. This time, the water below was a much darker shade of blue. The boat was on top of a large blue hole.

She knew that her uncle had to be at the bottom of the sea. Her only option was to go underwater and search for him.

On the boat was a scuba set. Corine geared up to prepare herself for the dive. She grabbed the conch shell, jumped off the boat's side, and dived into the blue hole.

The world beneath the sea was magical, everything that she imagined it to be. Inside the blue hole were schools of fish that made a beautiful array of colors underneath the sea. Corine saw manta rays, turtles, and even sharks. The creatures paid no attention to her; it was like she was invisible.

As Corine continued her dive, she noticed an underwater cave not too far in the distance.

Could Uncle Elvis be in the cave? thought Corine.

The courageous 12-year-old swam over to the cave, still holding the conch shell in her hand. When she got inside, the conch shell began to glow, lighting up the dark cave with  purple neon light. Corine could now see inside the cave. To her surprise, she saw thousands of baby conchs surrounding a Queen Conch.

The conchs migrated into the blue hole to escape overfishing from poachers. Corine had unknowingly solved the mystery of the disappearing conchs.

Corine noticed that inside of the Queen Conch was a beautiful, large, pink conch pearl.

As she swam towards the Queen Conch, she was stopped by Lusca. Lusca, a sea monster, looked like a giant shark that grew octopus tentacles instead of fins. The sea monster was so massive that it blocked Corine's view of the conch.

"What are you doing down here, child?" Lusca roared angrily.

"I'm looking for my uncle," she answered.

Lusca was the sea monster that she once heard about in her uncle's folklore stories. Lusca was known in Bahamian mythology for attacking swimmers and divers and dragging them into the depths of the blue hole, never to be seen or heard of again.

Could this have been her uncle’s fate? Corine was worried by the thought that her uncle might have been one of Lusca's victims. She was surprised when the giant sea monster offered to help find him.

"You won't find him down here. You won't find any of your kind down here," said Lusca.

Lusca, like most mythical creatures, was misunderstood. She was a protector of the conchs and saw humans as a threat to the species. The giant sea monster noticed the conch shell in Corine's hand.

"What are you doing with that shell?" yelled Lusca.

The great sea beast roared, shaking the conch shells in the cave. As the conchs were startled, the conch pearl dropped out of the Queen Conch.

Corine released the conch shell in her hand and swam quickly over to collect the pearl. As the conch shell fell, the light inside of the cave began to flicker. Corine made her way out of the cave in the nick of time before the cave became completely dark. She had escaped the angry sea beast and collected the conch pearl.

Corine began her swim back to the surface, but she noticed Lusca swimming quickly toward her in the distance.

"Come back here with that pearl!" the sea monster yelled.

Corine swam to the surface as fast as she could until she noticed a giant fishhook in her scuba gear. She looked up and could almost see the surface. At the top, there were boats and hooks surrounding her. It was the poachers. They quickly began reeling her to the surface as if she were a large fish. Very soon, she was at the top of the water with foreign boats and angry men surrounding her.

Corine took off her goggles to grab a breath of air and removed the hook from her gear.

"You're not a fish! What are you doing in our waters?" yelled one of the poachers.

Corine had escaped Lusca, but now she was surrounded by angry poachers. Corine held on to the conch pearl tightly as she treaded water to keep herself afloat. There was nowhere to escape. The boats moved closer to Corine.