Jesse surfaces as the chopper leaves, but is unable to stay above water.

Nadine and Elvis scream for Jesse and beg the helicopter to go back down, but the thick black smoke billowing up from the flaming oil begins to choke the chopper's engine, forcing the pilot to fly the chopper away. Nadine and Elvis are lifted into a rescue helicopter summoned by Randolph's distress signals, but Jesse slips out of the harness when reaching for the rescuer's hand and crashes into the water below. Their boat hits a rock and starts to sink, while Glen, Annie, and Randolph set out to find them in Randolph's boat and radio for help.

Jesse, Nadine and Elvis get the whales away from the cove by stealing the boat belonging to Glen and leading them out of the cove to safety, but then they are not able to save themselves when the tanker explodes and the crude oil in the water catches fire. His real plan, however, is to sell the whales to marine mammal parks and have them perform in shows. When word gets out that the whales are trapped and Luna is dying from the oil in her lungs, the president of the oil company ( Jon Tenney) arrives and announces a great plan to move the whales into captivity where they can recover from their injuries. Jesse cautiously begins to show his interest in Nadine, also, and as the awkward teenagers grow closer, Jesse helps Nadine befriend Willy and his orca siblings, Luna and Little Spot, in part using amateur synchronized swimming.ДЄs they continue to enjoy their camping trip, notwithstanding more angst from Elvis regarding his unhappy childhood, an oil tanker runs aground and spills oil into the ocean, trapping the three young whales in a small cove. Mindful of both frustrations, Randolph proceeds to tell Jesse the legend of Natsilane and gives him a carved orca pendant on a necklace to remind him of the power of his special connection to Willy. Meanwhile, resentment and disrespect from the petulant Elvis continues to be a problem for him. He is invited on their trip to San Juan Island so that he and Jesse might get to know one another.ДЄt the environmental institute there, Jesse reunites with his old Native American friend Randolph Johnson whom Jesse met at the aquatic park when he met Willy ( August Schellenberg) and quickly becomes smitten with Randolph's attractive and kindly goddaughter, Nadine ( Mary Kate Schellhardt), but is reluctant to romantically approach her out of concern for his friendship with Randolph. Elvis is sulky, overly talkative, and mischievous, and he is also prone to telling lies and easily gets on Jesse's nerves. Before they leave town, however, Dwight, Jesse's former social worker, shows up to inform Jesse that his birth mother, who abandoned him 8 years ago, was found in New York City, but has died and that she left behind her other son, Jesse's half-brother named Elvis( Francis Capra). Jesse, now a hardy and responsible teenager, has an eye for girls, and he and his parents are preparing to go on a family camping trip to the Pacific Northwest. It's been two years since Jesse saved and freed his orca friend, Willy and has since been adopted by his foster parents, Glen and Annie Greenwood.

The making of free willy 2