Almost immediately upon Julie Bird s return to the small port town where she was raised, everyday life is turned upside down. Julie s Gulf War vet father, Marty, has been on the losing side of a battle with PTSD for too long. A day of boating takes a dramatic turn when a majestic blue whale beaches itself and dies. A blond stranger sets up camp oceanside: she s an agitator, musician-impersonator, and armchair philosopher named Jennie Lee Lewis and Julie discovers she s connected to her father s mysterious trip to New Mexico 25 years earlier. As the blue whale decays on the beach, more wildlife turns up dead apparently by suicide echoing Marty s deepest desire. But Julie isn t ready for a world without her father.