A new species of marine worm works together with bacteria to destabilize the continental shelf, causing a megatsunami which kills millions and severely damages the coastal infrastructure.

When it becomes clear that all those events are related, an international scientific task force is created under the lead of the United States, led by Lieutenant General Judith Li, a close friend and adviser to the President.

Sigur Johanson, a marine biologist working at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, finally announces his hypothesis: the phenomena are intentional attacks by an unknown sentient species from the depths of the oceans.

General Li and a small group of scientists take to the sea on the helicopter carrier USS Independence in an attempt to find the yrr and make contact with them.

There she releases a dead human pumped full of the yrr's natural pheromone, hoping to trigger an "emotional" response.

Humanity now faces the difficult task of rebuilding their society and industry without coming into conflict with the ever-watching superpower under the sea again.

Ted Tally has finished writing the screenplay and Dino De Laurentiis was to be one of the prime financial benefactors of the project.

[6][7] An alliance of European public broadcasters produced a TV series titled as The Swarm, handled by Frank Doelger and Mark Huffam.

[8][9] The cast includes Cécile de France, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Joshua Odjick, Takuya Kimura, Kari Corbett, Jack Greenlees, Lydia Wilson, Krista Kosonen, Takehiro Hira and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers.