We open on a crowded beach. Jason is on a jetski; Jessie is on a surfboard keeping a watchful eye. A long, dark shadow passes beneath her board. She immediately presses the “talk” button on her radio and warns him that she saw the shadow. He powers his jet ski to the shadow and tries to shoot bubbles down into the water to frighten the creature away. But it doesn’t move. Looking into the water, Jason and Jessie are immediately sickened: the shark has had its fins cut off and it is dying. Jessie is infuriated at the thought that someone could mutilate a creature and leave it to die (although she does un-derstand eating fish). Off a short distance away, CAPTAIN PORTER and JIGGS, two red necked poachers, spill their sack of shark fins on to the deck of their vessel, the All She Rote.
It is now evening. Allie is swimming her nightly work out when JD joins her. Jessie stares at the water, still upset over what she saw that afternoon. JD understands her frus-trations at the things people are willing to do for money. Allie points out that shark fins are considered an aphrodisiac while JD mentions some of the recent medical break-throughs. Allie still considers sharks a danger, much like poisonous snakes. A bonfire blazes as Jason goes to visit Ko Lani. Ko Lani understands exactly what Jason is going through. He explains how Hawaiians consider sharks to be “Amakua,” or an-cestral protectors who watch over the islands. Ko Lani tells Jason that if he is a true wa-terman, he will need to bond with the Amakua. As he speaks, Ko Lani places his hand in the water. A shark fin appears and comes close by. Soon, other sharks arrive, but Ko Lani is safe. Jason watches, mesmerized. In the midst of his reverie, he flashes to Porter and Jiggs killing the sharks.
Jessie is alone on her jet ski when she sees an oily slick with torn pieces: chum from Porter and Jiggs’ boat. Her face hardening with resolve, Jessie starts following the line of chum. Sean calls her on the Nextel phone. She tells him what she’s seen. He tells her it’s none of their business and to come back. She pretends she is moving out of cell phone range and ignores him. Realizing Jessie’s impetuous nature could get her into trouble, Sean calls Allie, Kekoa and JD. They will track her down by having Allie fly a helicopter with JD while Sean, Dawn, Kekoa and Jason go with the scarab. As they race towards Kaneohe, JD explains that Jessie has another side that is very determined-espe-cially when she feels that someone or thing that is innocent is being hurt. Allie reiterates that she doesn’t consider sharks innocent.
Jessie comes up to the All She Rote. At first, Porter and Jiggs ignore her. Then, she starts trying to cut the lone line that trails off the back of their boat. Then, the jet ski runs out of gas. Porter tries to run her down, but Jessie dives just in time. Her jet ski is destroyed. Jessie is hurt and in the water. She sees the hooks from the long line trailing above her, and she must do her best to avoid them. On the helicopter, everyone is worried when Jessie’s phone suddenly goes dead.
When Jessie surfaces, Porter throws chum all around her. To her horror, she sees a shark coming towards them. Holding her breath, she dives under. Taking a breath, Jessie dives. The shark swims overhead. In the air, Allie sees the shark. She tries buzzing it, but it won’t go away. JD is just about to jump when the scarab roars up and pulls Jessie on board. Jason, however, is intrigued by the shark. Remembering what Ko Lani said, he goes into the water. The shark does a couple of passes. Jason is scared, but feels at peace. The shark swims up to him. On the shore, Ko Lani senses something is happening. The shark then passes Jason. He knows he is a true kama’aina. Now, the team is ready to go after Porter and Jiggs.
On their way in, Sean once again says he feels tracking them down is a waste of time. He feels they will call the Coast Guard and do a preemptive strike, accusing Jessie of being a “crazy woman on a jet ski.” Unfortunately, hunting for shark fin is not illegal. He feels they can’t solve all the problems of the world. Jessie begs him to help her with this one.
They arrive at the harbor. Jessie recognizes the All She Rote. They call Allie and ask her for “a favor.” On land, Jessie approaches Porter and Jiggs. Porter is cocky until Sean knocks over a can of gasoline and threatens to set their boat on fire. Enraged, Porter slaps Jessie. Sean jumps at him and beats him up. He is hitting him so hard that Jason and JD need to pull him off.
Just then, Karras arrives (he is “the favor”). He goes over the All She Rote and points out the number of violations the boat has–$40,000 worth. However, he can’t impound the boat until tomorrow. And, if Porter and Jiggs happen to slip away and never return, it might be hard to collect the fines.
Because Jason has passed the test of swimming with the sharks, he is ready to become an official kama’aina. The entire team comes to observe the Hawaiian ritual ceremony.