The Dolphins of Pern

The Dolphins of Pern is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish writer Anne McCaffrey, published in 1994. It is the thirteenth book in the Dragonriders of Pern series.

It follows up on the earlier books about the first colony by returning to the dolphins the original settlers brought with them and looking at what has become of them by the Ninth Pass, near the end of and after the events of All the Weyrs of Pern. Readis, the son of the Lord Holder at Paradise River, falls into the sea as a small boy and is rescued by the talking dolphins he calls shipfish, which determines what he does with the rest of his life. T'lion, a young rider of the bronze dragon Gadareth at Eastern Weyr, becomes interested in them after an early encounter of his own.

The two become friends because of that shared interest, and each of them goes against family, Hold and Weyr to keep it up. What comes out of it is the Dolphincrafthall and its first Dolphineer.