Teenager Noah Underwood lives with his younger sister Abbey and his parents, Paine and Donna, in the Florida Keys. Paine used to be a charter boat captain but now drives a cab because his various environmental protests have gotten him in trouble with the law. On Father’s Day, Paine gets arrested for sinking a gambling boat named the Coral Queen. It is owned by Dusty Muleman, a local bigshot who may be guilty of dumping raw sewage from the boat into the bay. This sewage then infects Thunder Beach, where local kids go to swim.

Paine is frustrated because the authorities can’t catch Dusty in the act, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and sink the boat himself. He has pulled equally reckless stunts in the past to protect local wildlife and abused pets. When Noah visits his father in jail, Paine asks for Noah’s help in proving that Dusty is dumping toxic waste. Noah agrees and then solicits Abbey’s help too.

The day after the sinking, crews are working to raise the Coral Queen. At the dock, Noah is confronted by Dusty’s son, Jasper. Noah says of him, “He was a well-known jerk, which I partly blamed on the fact that his parents had named him Jasper.