At the Neptune Marine Institute, the birth of a new orca (a killer whale) in captivity is cause for celebration. But when another female orca kills the mother, Charlie Banks, a senior scientist, must figure out why. Scarred by his own experience with infertility, and dealing with three very different women, his boss, a beautiful young whale trainer, and his ex-wife, plus the male head of the Institute whom he's known for nearly 25 years, Charlie struggles to make sense of what happened, on a stage dominated by a huge hollow sculpture of a whale. He can't avoid thinking that the killer whale who murdered the other whale wanted a baby of her own. The killing precipitates his need to rethink and redefine his own relationship to the orcas, whom he recognizes as highly intelligent, social beings, his conception of what constitutes a family, and all his relationships. At some point, each character confesses to the whale sculpture, which reacts appropriately with lights, fog, or other effects. Full length play.