Jonathan Chase (Simon MacCorkindale), Brooke McKenzie (Melody Anderson) and Corky (Meeno Peluce), the grandson of his houseguest, Clancy “Sea Dog” Morgan (Keenan Wynn), are at the beach when Brooke finds a sea lion stuck in a net. Simone frees the animal. Nearby Brooke finds a walrus tusk with carvings on it. Clutching the scrimshaw is a skeletal hand. Further investigation unearths the rest of the skeleton. The skull has a sharpened boomerang lodged in it.
The skeleton goes to the morgue while Chase takes the scrimshaw home to see if Clancy can decipher what the etchings on it mean. Clancy says he needs to study the scrimshaw and takes it up to his room. Something about his demeanor causes Chase to believe the old salt is holding something back. Chase is right. Clancy believes the pictures on the tusk mark the location of the treasure of Topaz Island.
In the meantime, Chase and Brooke have a murder to solve. Corky tells them the place to begin is a bar favored by seamen, The Bluefin. At the bar Chase garners the attention of Lydia Avery (Lina Raymond), who says the scrimshaw belongs to her. Also paying attention are a couple hoods (Robert Tessier and Frank Annese) that work for a treasure hunter, Cyris Gipps (Bo Brundin). The hoods kidnap Chase and Lydia. Brooke follows the kidnappers as Chase turns into a panther. Together they crash the car the arrest the hoods.
Back at Chase’s apartment Gipps and his right-hand henchman, Madgwick (Charles Hyman), kidnap Clancy. Chase receives a call demanding the scrimshaw or they will kill Sea Dog.
Chase transforms into both the panther and the hawk on screen. He also has a, new to the series, on screen transformation into a python. The python transformation effects were done by father and son team Michael John McCraken (Sr.) and Michael Shawn McCraken (Jr.).
This time, J.C.'s downstairs glass enclosures keep a fawn, two lion cubs, a zebra, and a vulture in a cage.