

Marlin, seeing Nemo's act, believes Nemo is dead.

Nigel causes a disturbance, terrifying Darla and throwing the office into chaos. Darla arrives, but Nemo plays dead to save himself.

Sherman has installed a new high-tech filter, foiling the Tank Gang's escape. They meet Nigel, who helps the pair escape from a group of seagulls and takes them to the dentist's office. Dory tries communicating with the whale, which expels them through its blowhole at Sydney Harbour.

Marlin and Dory exit the East Australian Current and are consumed by a blue whale. Inspired by his father's bravery, Nemo makes another attempt to jam the filter and succeeds, and soon the aquarium is covered in green algae. Marlin tells them about his quest, and the story is relayed across the ocean to Sydney, where a pelican, Nigel, tells the Tank Gang. They awaken in the East Australian Current with a group of sea turtles, including Crush and his son, Squirt. They stumble into a forest of jellyfish, the stings of which knock them unconscious. Dory and Marlin receive directions from a school of moonfish, but Marlin disregards them to take what he believes is a safer route. Dory memorizes the address written on the goggles, and they escape. They descend after it and encounter an anglerfish that chases them. Marlin and Dory wake up unharmed, but the mask falls into a deep trench. Nemo attempts the manoeuvre but fails and is almost killed. Gill devises a risky escape plan: Nemo, who can fit inside the aquarium's filter tube, will jam the filter with a pebble, forcing Sherman to put the fish into plastic bags while he cleans the tank, allowing them to roll out the window and into the harbour. Nemo learns he is to be given to Sherman's young niece, Darla, who has killed her previous fish. He meets the "Tank Gang", including yellow tang Bubbles, starfish Peach, cleaner shrimp Jacques, blowfish Bloat, royal gramma Gurgle, and twin damselfish Deb and Flo, led by Gill, a Moorish idol. Nemo is placed in an aquarium in the office of dentist Philip Sherman in Sydney, Australia. The scent sends Bruce into a feeding frenzy, but they flee after accidentally setting off a ring of old naval mines, which knock Marlin and Dory unconscious. Marlin discovers a diver's mask that fell from the boat he accidentally hits Dory with it, giving her a nosebleed. The two encounter Bruce, Anchor, and Chum, three sharks who have sworn to abstain from eating fish. Marlin pursues the boat in vain and meets Dory, a blue tang with acute short-term memory loss, who offers her help. While Marlin is talking to Nemo's teacher, Nemo defiantly approaches a nearby speedboat, where a pair of scuba divers capture him. On Nemo's first day of school, Marlin embarrasses Nemo, and the two argue. Sometime later, Marlin is overprotective of Nemo, born with a stunted right fin. Only one damaged egg remains, which Marlin names Nemo. His wife, Coral, and almost all of their eggs are killed in a barracuda attack. Marlin is a clownfish who lives in an anemone in the Great Barrier Reef.
