Synopsis

A captivating docu-thriller about the international orca trade, illuminating how the export of an American business model is influencing illegal trade in endangered wild orcas, through unprecedented access to journalists, activists, former trainers, and the catchers themselves. 

When a truth-seeking investigative journalist uncovers the illicit Russian orca trade to a billion dollar market in China, fearless activists issue a call to action. The international outcry forces the Kremlin to free over 100 wild-caught orcas and belugas from the infamous “whale jail” facility where they are held captive before their sale to Chinese aquariums. A ragtag team of orca catchers is paid by the government to set them free, launching a dangerous release operation over a thousand miles long, while a former orca trainer goes undercover in China to reveal the heartbreaking truth about life for these highly intelligent animals living in captivity. With unprecedented access to the activists and journalists who have formed a resistance to protect the kings of the ocean, the film also captures the network of businessmen, orca catchers and bureaucrats who drive the global captivity trade, desperately trying to preserve their profit derived from a brutal and exploitative market.