Long ago in Yap, there were two mysterious ladies who appear only at night to watch the Yapese dancing. After the dances ended, always before dawn the ladies would disappear. The men of the village were very interested in the women but could never follow them or find out where they came from.

One morning before dawn, a young man from the village was up in a coconut tree harvesting tuba, (coconut wine). He looked down and saw the two beautiful ladies hide their grass skirts put on what looked like mermaid fins, and swim into the sea.
The young man told no one of his discovery. Instead he hid and waited for the ladies to return. At last, after dark, they arrived. The mermaids removed their fins and put on the grass skirts that had been hidden from view. After carefully hiding the fins, the women went to the village for dancing. The young man decided to take one set of the fins to his house and hide them safely away. Before dawn, the ladies returned to the beach only to discover that just one pair of the fins remained. The two searched the area quickly. Sadly they realized only one of them would be able to return to the sea as the sun would soon rise, but after a while the lonely woman left behind married the young man who knew her secret.

Several years later, on a day that the men were out fishing, the young wife was cleaning her house and found the lost mermaid fins. The once beautiful fins were dried and wrinkled. Placing the wrinkled fins in water they were soon restored to their original condition. She then put on the fins and returned to the sea. The mermaid came upon her husband's boat and jumped through the outrigger. Recognizing her, the young man realized what had happened. Sadly his fears were confirmed when he returned to the village to find an empty home.