Besieged in Paradise

Besieged in Paradise is the sixteenth episode of the first season of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.

Premise
Surd uses Questworld to tap into the "cetacean internet", a sonic frequency he can use to take control of whales, and tests it out by turning the whales against the Quest team.

Opening
Off Hawaii, Jonny is parasailing in a boat sailed by Jessie and Hadji. Hadji remarks that a squall is getting close, and they turn back to the Questor. Underwater, a whale gets caught in a fishing net, and Jonny notices. He releases himself from his tether to the boat and drops down near the whale. He dives under the water is able to free the whale, but he gets caught in the net himself. He breaks free but passes out before he can reach the surface.

Act 1
Jessie and Hadji go after Jonny, and Jessie dives into the water to search. A whale pushes Jonny to the surface and Jessie gets to him, and Hadji pulls them back on board. Jonny isn't breathing, so Jessie and Hadji perform CPR. Jonny coughs and awakens, and Hadji is grateful to the whale for helping.

On a container ship, Julia complains to Lorenzo that they've been working on this project for two weeks and gotten nowhere, concluding that the idea of a "whale internet" is a crazy. In Questworld, Surd virtually swims with the whales and has Julia begin their next experiment. They transmit sonar signals underwater, and it works in making cetaceans aggressive. Elsewhere, dolphins attack a fisher. A whale attacks a whale viewing ship, causing it to capsize. Dolphins knock a trainer into the water and attack her. Surd ends the experiment and the cetaceans return to their normal behavior. Surd logs out of Questworld, and Julia congratulates him on proving the existence of a cetacean internet, which Surd refers to as a "whale net", "a low frequency global communication system entirely independent of electronics." Surd can use it to control the whales and make them do whatever he wants.

Lorenzo wonders what they can use it for, and Julia suggests using it to attack the Quests, since she's been monitoring them and knows they're sailing off Hawaii. Surd agrees it's a "magnificent experiment".

Off the coast of Hawaii, Jonny and Jessie are SCUBA diving. Hadji and Dr. Quest are out looking for whales and spot a pod of dolphins, and they lower a recording device into the water. Jonny and Jessie discover an underwater cave, but they don't have enough air left to explore it so they turn back. They see a whale and Jonny thinks it's the same one from before. It lets them get close and they hold onto its flipper for a ride.

Surd transmits his signal on the cetacean internet. The dolphins near Hadji and Dr. Quest's boat begin acting strange, and Hadji pulls off his headset so Dr. Quest can listen to what he's hearing. The dolphins attack their boat and they head to shore. Jessie and Jonny are about to head up with the whale begins to attack them. They split up and Jonny loses sight of Jessie. Jonny's out of air and needs to surface. On the shore, Jonny calls to Jessie through their radio, but Jessie's gear is shattered on the ocean floor.

Act 2
Jonny pulls off his gear but still tries to call to Jessie through their radio transmitter. Hadji and Dr. Quest reach him and Jonny asks for a new air tank so he can go look for Jessie.

Underwater, Jessie has surfaced in the underwater cave which has air. She find a plastic jug, tears off a bit of her wetsuit, and sends it out of the cave to be found, but the whales are still out there and it's not safe for her to surface.

On the Questor, Jonny takes off on a jet ski to go look for Jessie. Dr. Quest tells Hadji to contact Race, and he takes the mini-chopper to help the search. The jug Jessie released surfaces and Jonny finds it and recognizes it. Dr. Quest warns Jonny that the whales are getting close, and Jonny grabs the bottom of the mini-chopper and is lifted to safety as the whales attack his jet ski.

Back on the Questor, Jonny tells Hadji and Dr. Quest about the jug, and that the piece of Jessie's wetsuit didn't get in there by accident. He wants to go back and look for her. Race contacts the Questor, he's about five hours out and flying there on the Catalina. Dr. Quest reports that Jessie's alive, but he tells Race that the best thing he can do to help is find Captain Havel. Race reluctantly agrees, trusting the rest of the team to find Jessie, and he'll find Havel who will take care of the source of the interference: Surd, located on a container ship off the coast of Madagascar.

On the container ship, Surd thinks this is the best thing since his discovery of Questworld. He wants to go back in.

Aboard the Questor, Dr. Quest draws the whales away as Jonny and Hadji take the Sea Slug down to look for Jessie. Meanwhile in the cave, Jessie can't stay in there forever and she starts to swim out, but turns back when she sees a shadow at the entrance. Jonny surfaces, and they hug, glad to see each other. The whales catch up to the Questor and damage the starboard hull, forcing Dr. Quest to return the ship to the cove.

On the container ship, Surd is in Questworld, controlling the whales to attack Dr. Quest's ship.

Captain Havel surfaces his submarine as Race Bannon lands the Catalina nearby. They meet and Race hands Havel information on the sonar signature for Surd's ship, saying he'll owe Havel a favor if he gets this done.

Jonny and Jessie get back aboard the Sea Slug. A whale goes after them and they take evasive action. Whales continue to attack the Questor. In Captain Havel's submarine, the sonarman reports a match on the sonar signature, and Havel orders an intercept coarse. On the Sea Slug, Jonny blows the ballast and surfaces the Sea Slug, and they all swim for shore as the whale attacks the Sea Slug. Captain Havel orders that they fire a torpedo at the container ship.

Once the container ship is struck, the whales all go back to normal. The container ship sinks, but Surd, Julia, and Lorenzo escape on a helicopter.

Race later joins the Quest team on the Questor. Hadji points out that Havel once tried to kill them, but has now saved their lives. Jonny is glad that Havel is still out there protecting the whales.

Characters
Main characters:
 * Jonny Quest
 * Jessie Bannon
 * Hadji Singh
 * Benton Quest
 * Race Bannon

Supporting characters:
 * Captain Havel

Villains:
 * Dr. Jeremiah Surd
 * Julia
 * Lorenzo

Other characters:
 * Kelly

Locations

 * Hawaii
 * Madagascar
 * Washington, D.C.
 * Questworld

Objects

 * Diving gear

Vehicles

 * Questor's Whaler
 * Surd's unnamed container ship
 * Jet ski
 * Quest Mini-Chopper
 * Questor
 * Catalina
 * Sea Slug
 * Captain Havel's submarine
 * Surd's chinook helicopter

Notes/trivia

 * Bandit is absent.
 * There is no Quest Byte.

Goofs

 * None known.

Home media

 * 🇺🇸 The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: Season One, Volume 2 DVD set released on March 27, 2012 by Warner Archive Collection.

Quotes
Race: "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Dr. Quest: "No, leave Jessie to us. The best that you can do for her is to find Captain Havel."

Race: "Captain Havel?!"

Jonny: "The psycho that tried to kill me?"

Dr. Quest: "Hear me out, Havel only tried to kill you because he's obsessed with whales. Hadji has tracked a synthetic whale song which accompanies each of the whale attacks."

Hadji: "The signal emanates from a large container ship off the coast of Madagascar."

Race: "Jeremiah Surd."

Jonny: "Ah, I get it, pop. Havel will take care of Surd once he finds out the good doctor's messing with the whales."

Race: "How the heck am I supposed to find Havel and his sub?"

Dr. Quest: "Race, you're the best connected man in the maritime service. Get on the horn. Just find him."