Today, while prodding through the seaweed at the high-water mark in search of interesting things, I came across a small pile of perfectly preserved seashells. I was surprised to see such a hoard, given the slim chances of anything emerging unscathed from the pummelling of the recent storms. And my surprise grew when, on a closer inspection of the shells, I found that all of them seemed to come from the Philippine and East China seas. Clearly, one of the local mermaids has just returned from her holidays.