Paro, a young South Asian woman, has been taught by her mother to avoid the ocean — her grandmother drowned under circumstances her mother won't share. Despite her mother's warnings and secrecy about their familial history, Paro has always been drawn to the ocean, as it is where she feels most alive. In a threatening, rapidly modernizing India led by a mysterious authoritarian who demeans nature, scientists work in secret to combat climate change and explore the environment. Paro joins a renegade scientific ship to track a blue whale, with whom she builds a deep personal relationship. When the scientist's ship is stormed by island rebels, Paro dives underwater and rescues her whale from tangled wires. Afterwards, she realizes that she's not from mainland India, but is actually an island girl who lost her homeland to colonization. The real truth is that her grandmother walked into the sea rather than surrender.