As a small boy, Kei watches his fisherman father disappear at sea just moments after catching a farewell present from him: a pan flute carved out of whalebone. A few years on, Kei and his little brother Moito come across a baby whale pinned by a rock in a shallow inlet near the coast of Spain. The film also centers on an albino whale made to perform in a circus, and on young children working to release it from captivity. The result is an adventure drama about a family marked by loss at sea and children who try to help a whale in trouble.