In Morocco, a widely-accepted account fills the air, about three local fishermen who drowned at sea - allegedly after attaining visions of a mysterious woman who beckoned them to their deaths. As director Hakim Belabbes's feature Why, O Sea? opens, this chain of events seems poised to repeat itself in the life of a similar fisherman, Said. Day after day, he journeys into the sea, with his friends, to retrieve his daily catch. For better or worse, Said and his pals are seemingly bound to their occupation for life and enmeshed in crude, centuries-old techniques for plying their trades. When Said - like the unfortunate predecessors - also begins spotting a female presence who appears everywhere, calling ceaselessly to him, his mother grows sick at the thought that this may be a maritime apparition determined to lure him to a watery grave.