A grizzled old fisherman raises a boy of mysterious origins on the shores of the spectacular, resource-rich but unforgiving Prince William Sound. Sven dubs the boy Orca, after the whales who bring the baby boy to shore, and gives him as good an upbringing as he can, teaching him the ways of the sea. Orca grows up learning to set nets and read from a first aid manual; he spends his hours listening to the tall tales of garrulous sailors and the sound of rain on water, until the crucial summer when Miss Priscilla M. Braithewaite of the Alaska Department of Social Services, Division of Child Welfare, comes to pay a call and perhaps change his life forever. Jones' novel is illustrated with numerous wash drawings by noted Alaska artist Susan Ogle.