The Aquanaut: A Graphic Novel

The Aquanaut is a science fiction graphic novel written and illustrated by Dan Santat. Santat is a Caldecott medalist who created the illustrations for more than 100 books, many of which were inspired by his life. He wrote The Aquanaut intending to create something fun and adventurous, but when his father died, inspiration from that loss reshaped the novel. The Aquanaut centers around four sea creatures who use an old diving suit to come to the famous Aqualand marine park on land, hoping to find safety there. They find a girl named Sophia, whose father owned the suit before he died. Through Sophia and the sea creatures’ actions, the novel explores themes of The Courage to Face Fears, Finding Home in Family, and The Right of All Creatures to Live Freely.

This guide refers to the 2022 Graphix (Scholastic) edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of death and animal cruelty and death.

Plot Summary

Brothers Paul and Michel Revoy are at sea doing research for a marine biology project. A storm hits, waves flood the ship, and Michel is caught inside. Paul tries to save him but fails, and Michel leaves Paul with the information for their giant squid project before he dies. Michel also writes a note and puts it in a wine bottle. Paul and two others are saved, but Paul is already beginning to grieve the loss of his brother. Four sea creatures, a turtle (Jobim), a blanket octopus (Antonio), a dumbo octopus (Carlos), and a crab (Sodapop), find the wine bottle, along with Michel’s antique diving suit.

Five years later, the four sea creatures have rigged the diving suit so that they can maneuver it and go onto land. The whole operation becomes known as “the aquanaut,” and they emerge from the ocean to the shock of everyone around them. Sodapop steers and acts as the commander, but everyone has a say in what happens. The first thing the aquanaut encounters is a dog who licks them, and they wonder if licking is just a common greeting on land. They come to a marine park called Aqualand, hoping to find safety and a home there. While this is going on, Sophia wakes up late for class and rushes to school. She is under pressure to do well at the upcoming science fair and asks her uncle Paul (who now runs Aqualand) for help.

At Aqualand, the sea creatures see all sorts of attractions, tanks filled with animals, and rides. Confused, they keep looking around and accidentally bump into Sophia. The aquanaut starts exploring and finds a photo of Sophia with her family, which leads them to the conclusion that she must be Michel’s daughter. Sophia finds them, and the first thing Carlos does is lick her. Sophia punches the diving suit in response, and they drop Michel’s journal. Suddenly, Sophia realizes that the sea creatures are using her dad’s suit and have his journal. Moments later, Paul and an investor named Mr. Lula come into the lab, and Mr. Lula tells Paul that he has to allow for an orca show. Paul doesn’t want Aqualand to become any more gimmicky, but he has no choice if he wants his research to be funded. He admits that he no longer has time to help Sophia, which hurts her, but she decides to bring the aquanaut to school for the science fair instead.

At the science fair, Sophia tries to pretend that the aquanaut is her uncle in a diving suit. The teacher notices that the “person” in the suit is acting strange, and it gets worse when Sophia discovers that Carlos ate her sea monkey project. Sodapop forces Carlos into the tank instead, but when he’s made to eat a turkey sandwich, he becomes sick and throws up on the teacher.

Three months pass, and Sophia and the aquanaut are friends. They’re at Aqualand when Sophia shows them the shell that her father gave her before his last trip. As they walk around, they stumble upon the orca exhibit, which deeply upsets Sodapop, who can see that the orca is scared. People try to take pictures with the aquanaut, thinking it’s a tourist attraction, and Sophia must help them get away. They hide in a secret room where Paul’s project, a giant squid raised in captivity, lives. Seeing the giant squid causes Sodapop to panic, and the diving suit falls to the floor. It reminds him of the day his father died. Sodapop was with his father, exploring the ocean floor and looking for a new shell (the can). When a giant squid approached, they hid inside an old car, but Sodapop’s dad emerged too soon. The squid was still there, and it instantly took him as Sodapop watched.

Paul comes to the rescue, but what he finds confuses him. Sophia explains that she met the aquanaut at Aqualand and that they’ve become a better family than her uncle lately. Paul agrees to let the animals stay, but they must remain hidden in the lab. Sodapop can’t keep this rule because he plans to free the orca. The other animals join him because they work as a team, and they manage to sneak out in the night. Carlos uses a crane to lift the orca out of the water and loads her into a truck. Together, they drive off the dock and into the ocean, freeing the orca. Paul discovers the aquanaut, along with the whale, as she swims away. The next day, Sophia hears what happened on the radio and finds the aquanaut in the living room with her uncle. He is helping to fix their suit after it was damaged the night before and insists that they must go back to the ocean. Mr. Lula arrives and accuses Paul of releasing the orca, threatening to put him in jail. Sophia tries to take the blame, but the sea creatures intervene and show themselves. Mr. Lula is intrigued and agrees to make the aquanaut his next big attraction in exchange for letting Paul keep his job.

Six months later, Paul attempts to present a fake aquanaut to the world, but the man in the suit pretending to be the aquanaut trips, and his helmet comes off. Everyone thinks that Paul is a fraud, and Mr. Lula demands to know what happened to the real one. The aquanaut and Sophia attempt to escape by going to the squid tank and using it as a way out. Sophia opens the water valve so that it drains out to the ocean and gives the aquanaut her dad’s shell. Sodapop gives her his can in return and then dives into the tank with the giant squid. The squid is scared and tries to grab the aquanaut, but Sodapop can see that it needs help and leaves the suit to guide it down to the drain. The rest of the animals follow, and they are freed. Six months later, Paul decides to shut down Aqualand and go back to working on the ocean. He takes Sophia with him and names his new boat after his brother. Paul just wants to spend time with the family he has and knows that he and Sophia can help one another heal. The first place Paul decides to explore is the shipwreck where his brother died, and when he reaches the ocean floor, the aquanaut is there waiting for him.