This book begins in 1866 and is about a sea monster that sank ships. During that first year, several ships reported sightings of this "monster" and described it as a long, thin whale larger than any whale. After several months, the "monster" began to attack approaching ships. All the nations of the world were afraid to go to sea and the United States sent the Abraham Lincoln to destroy the monster in hopes of bringing peace to the seas. The best men in ocean study were invited to join the crew until the monster was killed. In this group were Monsirur Aronnax and Ned Land. Monsirur Aronnax brought with him his long-time servant, Conseil. Conseil was a very loyal servant and a very good classifier, he was of great help in identifying creatures. Ned Land was an extremely skilled harpooner with excellent accuracy and was known throughout the world for this reason. Monsirur Aronnax was from the Paris Museum and had written a book called Mysteries of the Deep Ocean, which was popular among scientists, making him a specialist in this field. The Abraham Lincoln searched the oceans for months without any sightings of the creature, almost as if he knew they had been following him. Then, one night in early November, Ned Land spotted a bright light coming just below the surface of the water, so the frigate began pursuing the moster at full steam. For two days and a night, the Abraham Lincoln pursued this monster, firing cannons when it got close enough, but they would just bounce off. Then the monster turned and rushed over the side of the frigate, throwing Monsirur Aronnax and Ned Land overboard. Consel dove into the water in the hope of saving his master. The three men swam for many hours until they found a large floating object to rest on. They all thought the monster was dead, but upon inspection they realized that it was not a living creature at all but a large iron vessel. Suddenly, a door opened on the ship and the men were apprehended and drugged inside the ship. They stayed in a small, dark room for a few hours until a light came on and two men entered the room...