Fact1: oceanographer Steve Zissou is working on latest documentary at sea best friend and chief diver, Fact2: crew aboard Zissou 's aging research vessel includes estranged wife Pele dos Santos safety expert and Brazilian guitarist and Klaus Daimler, Fact3: German first mate views Zissou and Esteban as father figures, Fact4: airline pilot in Kentucky to join crew, Fact5: husband is taking advantage of Ned and leaves
Output: While oceanographer Steve Zissou is working on his latest documentary at sea, his best friend and chief diver, Esteban du Plantier, is eaten by a creature Zissou describes as a jaguar shark. For his next project, Zissou is determined to document the sharks destruction. The crew aboard Zissous aging research vessel Belafonte includes his estranged wife Eleanor, chief strategist and financial backer; Pele dos Santos, a safety expert and Brazilian guitarist who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese; and Klaus Daimler, the German first mate who views Zissou and Esteban as father figures. Minor crew members include Vikram Ray, cameraman; Bobby Ogata, frogman; Vladimir Wolodarsky, physicist and soundtrack composer; Renzo Pietro, sound man; and AnneMarie Sakowitz, script girl. Also included is a recent group of unpaid interns from the University of North Alaska. However, the Team Zissou venture has hit a decline; they have not released a successful documentary in nine years. Ned Plimpton is a longtime Zissou fan whose mother had recently died, and he believes that Zissou is his father. After they meet at Zissous latest premiere, Ned takes leave from his job as an airline pilot in Kentucky to join his crew. As Oseary Drakoulias, Zissous producer, can not find anyone to finance their latest documentary, Ned offers his inheritance. Eleanor feels her husband is taking advantage of Ned and leaves. A reporter, Jane WinslettRichardson, who is pregnant, comes to chronicle the voyage. Both Ned and Zissou are infatuated with Jane, and a rivalry develops between them. Klaus becomes envious of the attention Zissou pays to Ned. On their mission to find the jaguar shark, the Belafonte steals tracking equipment from a remote station owned by Alistair Hennessey, a more successful oceanographer and Zissous nemesis. They then sail into unprotected waters and are attacked by Filipino pirates, who steal Neds money and kidnap Bill Ubell, a bond company stooge assigned to the project. They are then rescued by Hennessey and towed to PortauPatois. Sakowitz, along with all but one of the interns, jump ship once they reach port. Zissou convinces Eleanor to rejoin the Belafonte, and then leads the crew on a rescue mission. They track Bill to an abandoned hotel on a remote island, saving him along with Hennessey, whom the pirates have also kidnapped. Ned and Zissou then make one last search for the shark in the ships helicopter, but the aircraft malfunctions and they crash. Ned dies from his injuries and is buried at sea. Prior to Neds death, Eleanor revealed to Jane that Zissou is sterile, therefore Ned could not have been his son. Zissou finally tracks down the shark in a submersible but he decides not to kill it, both because of its beauty and not having any more dynamite. At the premiere of the finished documentary which is dedicated to Ned, Zissou receives a standing ovation while waiting outside the theater for the premiere to finish. The crew returns triumphantly to the ship the next day.