As the storm worsens, Fen returns to the seal colony and is distressed by how long she has been away. The beach has almost vanished, the black sand has been eaten by the sea, and the young seals are huddled with the adults against wind and rain that could kill them before they are ready for open water. Fen tries to move some pups into slightly safer positions, but the waves are already sweeping under her and she realizes she cannot protect them by staying there.

Because Fen now wants to live and leave the island, she rejects the old idea that love should mean dying alongside the animals. She tells the pups they will have to swim and urges them, in whatever bond she believes exists between them, to trust their bodies and the call of the sea. With no better way to help them, Fen wishes them courage and runs for shelter.

The wind throws Fen against the rocks as she heads for the boathouse, choosing it because the sleeping quarters have no roof and the hospital is too far away. Inside, she hears a human sound and discovers Hank hiding behind a fuel drum. Alone with the man who once tried to drown her, Fen grabs a torch as a weapon and confronts him. Hank calls everyone else mad, and Fen briefly wonders whether the island has driven them all into a shared breakdown, but she decides that question does not excuse what he did.

Fen asks what Hank intends to do, then accuses him of drowning things and of forcing her head under water. Hank claims he does not remember, and Fen's hatred gives way to a clearer sense that he is deeply unwell. She decides her revenge will be to survive, get Hank off the island alive, and leave him to others while she builds a life beyond him with her family. But when Fen lowers the torch and tells Hank he needs to leave Shearwater, Hank suddenly lunges at her.