Wagner Iworrigan, a seventeen-year-old high school senior from St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, possesses extensive knowledge in biology, meteorology, and mathematics. He excels at determining the health of a walrus, predicting weather conditions, and aiming a harpoon at a bowhead whale. 

One recent unseasonably warm autumn day, Wagner skipped class to accompany his uncle on their boat. They sailed through the turbulent waters of the Bering Sea, their goal being to catch a seal to feed Wagner's family: two younger sisters, a younger brother, four cousins, and a grandfather.  All ten of them live together in a three-bedroom house.