on an island in the gulf of california an intrepid young woman named paloma carries a special legacy from her fathera deep understanding of the sea and a sixth sense about the need to protect it every day paloma paddles her tiny boat into the ocean and anchors over a seamounta submerged volcanic peak sixty feet underwater that is clustered with spectacular sea animals and a wondrous web of marine life it is there that an astonishing event takes place when on one of her dives paloma is shadowed by a manta rayan animal so large it blocks the sun she develops an extraordinary relationship with this luminous gentle creature but instinctively knows its existence is a secret she must fiercely protect benchleys novel paints a poignant picture of humanitys precarious relationship with the ocean which unfolds alongside a heartrending story of familial bonds often revealing that the ignorance of man is far more dangerous than the sea full of beauty danger and adventure the girl of the sea of cortez is triumphanta novel to fall in love with