Ariel is a unique child. With a severe cognitive disability no one quite understands, she has trouble communicating and expressing any emotion. Her parents, Johnny and Christa, struggle with their child's lack of mental development. Christa becomes depressed and detached from her daughter, and Johnny. In a desperate effort to better understand her and save their relationship, Ariel's parents take her to Dolphin House, a research facility in Mexico. There, Dr. Kenneth Barnhill puts Ariel in direct contact with a pod of dolphins. They find that despite her trouble with other humans, Ariel has a powerful, immediate connection to the dolphins. They convey complex ideas to her and transmit images that she alone knows the meaning of, somehow. Ariel develops the ability to communicate with the dolphins by generating visions that create divided reactions amongst the pod. Johnny and Christa watch Ariel's world grow, until disaster strikes Dolphin House and they learn that the situation is far more dire than they dared to imagine. "Eye of the Dolphin" tells an epic story of a small family, as a troubled mother, father, and daughter try to solve an ancient mystery that brings them dangerously closer together.