One big part about the new Animal Crossing summer update is the ability to swim around the ocean surrounding your island. Never mind about it being shark season in the northern hemisphere; there are warm waters to wade through and beach parties to throw.

Beyond taking in too much saltwater with your friends, there’s another reason to dive into the drink and explore the open seas — the new Mermaid set items.

With newly tamed waters comes Pascal, an otter who’s as cool as a sea cucumber. Just as Gulliver holds the Pirate set of items, this hungry little water weasel is like the keeper of forgotten knowledge, holding the entire new Mermaid DIY recipe set like a closely guarded secret. Here’s how to get Pascal the otter to share his scallop-y goods.

Putting on your wetsuit and paddling around your island isn’t enough to get Pascal to show up. He’s an elusive little creature who won’t show up unless you have something for him to nibble on.

If you know much about otters, it’s that they love to snack on aquatic life (and sometimes even birds). But a simple fish isn’t enough for the playful pup. He wants shellfish. Or, more specifically, a scallop. Find one and there’s a chance he’ll show up before you have a chance to pocket the tasty morsel.

Scallops can’t be fished up the old-fashioned way. You have to dive for them. With your wetsuit on, you need to look out for bubbles rising up to the surface.

Dive nearby using the Y button and steer yourself toward the underwater shadow to pull up some marine life. If luck is on your side, it won’t take too many trips down to the ocean floor before you pull up a scallop. Mussels won’t do.

It’s not guaranteed, but bring up a scallop from a dive and you might just see Pascal pop up on the horizon. Once you put your new treasure away, he’ll swim up to you and ask to take it off your hands. Oblige the peckish little sea sausage and he’ll hand over a random Mermaid set DIY recipe as thanks.

There are enough items in the Mermaid set to fill a room. That’s good. But finding them isn’t quite so easy.

As outlined above, Pascal is more or less the only reliable way to get Mermaid DIY recipes. There’s every chance they’ll drop from balloons, but with balloon item tables filled to the brim already, the odds are against you.

It’s not as simple as farming scallops to load Pascal up like a squirrel preparing for winter, either. That’s a quick way to a repetitive strain injury both in-game and out.

Pascal, like the island message bottles, is on a strict one-DIY-recipe-per-day deal. No matter how many times you see the silly sea critter as you deplete your water’s scallop reserves, you’ll only get one chance at a Mermaid recipe from him on any given day.

Want to channel your inner Ariel and live like you’re under the sea? Thanks to data miners like SteeloKriPlayAC over on Reddit, we now know all the items from the new Mermaid set. Note: item names are completely unofficial and will vary. We’ll update them as their proper names are discovered in-game.

Here’s the complete list of Animal Crossing summer update Mermaid set items: