Place an ocean mat (your “ocean”) in front of you.
Choose a player color and gain the 6 divers of that color.
Place 1 egg token on each of the 2 starting egg slots (printed on forage fish) in your ocean. Forage fish are the three fish printed on your ocean mat.
Place 1 young token on the starting young slot.
Gain 2 random starter fish cards. Place them face up in a vertical line beside your ocean mat (as shown) to form your hand. Return any unused starter fish cards to the box.
Draw 3 fish cards from the deck and add them face up to your hand. All unplayed fish in your hand are public knowledge.
Randomly select the first player and give them the first-player token.