Off the coast of Alaska, oceanographer Emma MacNeil is studying the migration patterns of whales aboard an experimental submarine she took without permission from her employer.

Meanwhile, a military helicopter drops experimental sonar transmitters into the water, causing a pod of whales to go out of control and start ramming a nearby glacier.

Elsewhere, the huge shark leaps tens of thousands of feet into the air from the ocean and attacks a commercial aircraft, forcing it to crash into the water.

MacNeil reflects on the polar ice caps melting due to man-made global warming, and wonders if the creatures are mankind's "comeuppance".

MacNeil, Sanders, and Shimada are arrested by a team of soldiers and taken to government official Allan Baxter, a rude and racist man who demands their help in destroying the creatures.

MacNeil and Sanders agree to place a trap for the shark in San Francisco Bay, while Shimada returns to Tokyo to attract the octopus.

Later, Shimada contacts the Americans and says the Japanese trap, having the same disaster, only succeeded in angering the octopus, which has escaped despite multiple artillery and missile hits.

Baxter suggests using nuclear weapons against the creatures, which MacNeil, Sanders, and Shimada strongly oppose due to the risk of marine devastation, coastal damage and human casualties.

After a short search, the submarine brings both the shark and the octopus to an ice trench off the Alaskan coast, where MacNeil first encountered the creatures.

MacNeil, Sanders, and Baxter man a mini-submarine and detach just as the shark bites the larger submarine in half, killing the rest of the crew.

The film ends with MacNeil, Sanders, and Shimada deciding to visit the North Sea after receiving infrared images of mysterious organic life there.

"[2] Peter Whittle of The Sunday Times gave the film one out of five stars and considered it "Unwatchable, almost unreviewable, this stupid monster movie makes the Béla Lugosi swan song Plan 9 from Outer Space look like a masterpiece.

"[3] Philip French of The Observer said in his review that "The risible special effects and the clumsy acting recall not Roger Corman productions but the ineptitude of Ed Wood, though the result is far less endearing.

"[6] Bill Gibron of PopMatters gave the film an 8 out of 10, saying that "Schlock may be an acquired taste, like caviar, foie gras, and Arby's, but it's hard to see how anyone wouldn't enjoy this extremely tacky dish."