Manny and Ellie are forced to deal with the trials and tribulations of their now teenage daughter Peaches, who has trouble fitting in with her peers. Ellie tries to support her daughter, but Manny becomes exceedingly overprotective. Meanwhile, Sid's family returns, but only to drop off the elderly Granny before promptly abandoning them both. Manny then catches Peaches hanging out with a group of mammoths he does not approve of, causing a fight between him and Peaches. Shortly after, a sudden continental break-up (caused by Scrat whilst trying to bury his acorn again) separates Manny from The Herd. Trapped on a moving chunk of ice with Sid, Granny, and Diego, Manny has no choice but to ride out the current. At the same time, a giant land shift encroaches on Ellie, Peaches, and those remaining on land, forcing them to make their way towards a land bridge in order to get to safety. After extremely violent weather pushes them further away from land, Manny's group is captured by a band of pirates sailing on a floating iceberg led by a Gigantopithecus, Captain Gutt, who attempts to press them into his crew. When they refuse, Gutt tries to execute them; this leads to their escape, which inadvertently causes the ship and food supplies to sink. Gutt's first mate, a female sabretooth named Shira, joins them after she is left for dead. The Herd washes ashore on Switchback Cove, which gives a current back to their home. After learning that Gutt has enslaved a group of hyrax and is using them to build a new iceberg ship, Manny coordinates a plan with some more hyrax to free their comrades and steal the ship, and they are able to create a diversion. Just before they manage to escape aboard the ship, Diego tries to convince Shira to leave the pirates and join The Herd so she can live a better life, but Shira, while initially accepting, instead stays behind and slows Gutt down so The Herd can escape. Gutt forms yet another ship and plans to seek revenge on Manny. Meanwhile, during the animals' trek to the land bridge back on the mainland, Peaches joins the group of mammoths from before, only to find out that they do not care about the ongoing danger and they look down on her for being friends with a molehog named Louis. When Louis overhears Peaches telling the other mammoths that they are not actually friends, Peaches has a change of heart about her new friends, berates them for their attitudes, and leaves them. After narrowly escaping a pack of sirens, Manny, Sid, Diego, and Granny return home and find that not only has the land bridge been destroyed, but Gutt has beaten them and taken Ellie, Peaches, and the rest of The Herd hostage. A fight ensues, as Granny's pet whale, Precious, arrives and fends off Gutt's crew. Manny defeats Gutt in a final duel on an ice floe and reunites with his family and friends. Gutt subsequently encounters a siren that assumes the shape of a female Gigantopithecus, and is eaten alive. In the aftermath, Peaches happily reconciles with both Manny and Louis, and Shira joins The Herd and becomes a couple with Diego. With their home destroyed by the land shift, Precious takes the e
