In 1982 a Soviet moon lander crashes into the Bering Sea. In 2015, two biology graduate students, Ronelle and Sadie join their professor, Stephen, on an experimental tour to study the effects of global warming on whales. Sadie's grandfather, Graff, takes them to sea in his commercial fishing trawler, ''Harbinger'', which is crewed by Bowman, Roland, Big G, Dock, Svetlana and Atka. Sadie declines when Graff encourages her to helm the boat as she has lost her nerve since losing her father at sea. After meeting the crew, Sadie, Ronelle and Stephen go to sleep.