Post by Desert on Dec 22, 2008 13:13:20 GMT -5
Dolphins were brought to Pern by the original colonists. They brought only one species: the bottle-nosed dolphin, Tursiops truncatus. The dolphins they brought along were not average dolphins: they had been enhanced, injected with a special chemical that increased their intelligence, and even gave them the ability to speak human language.
In the intervening millennium since being brought to Pern, dolphin kind has lost some of the skill; their speech has become more rudimentary. This is changing as the Dolphin Hall gains members and more dolphineers enter the water to work with the pods. Before the Dolphin hall was established, Pern believed dolphins to be dumb beasts, and merely called them shipfish.
Much like the terran dolphins, Pernese dolphins swim in pods, and each pod has a leader. The leader is usually an old, experienced female. Each pod can communicate with other pods using their sonar. The pods gather annually to trade stories, initiate youngsters, and such.
Dolphins recycle names, passing them on through generations. Names like Kibbe (Kib), Dart (Dar), Aphrodite (Afro), Atlanta (Atla) and others have been used since dolphins first came to Pern. The shortened names are more common currently, since the longer versions were lost with the intricacies of language, but they are resurfacing as well.
Dolphins serve several purposes to Pernese humans. They escort boats to provide guidance to schools of fish, to rescue and protect in case someone goes overboard. They alert humans about weather and Thread, and other useful tasks. Dolphins can use their sonar as a primitive ultrasound, to diagnose things like pregnancy. They have proved themselves invaluable to Healers willing to work with them.
In return, the Fishers give the dolphins some of their catch, and the dolphineers give their charges any medical attention they might need.
Dolphins are quite independent, and their bond with their dolphineer is more like the bond between a runner and its rider. They usually look to a single dolphineer per dolphin, though if there aren't enough humans to go around a whole pod may share a dolphineer.
In the intervening millennium since being brought to Pern, dolphin kind has lost some of the skill; their speech has become more rudimentary. This is changing as the Dolphin Hall gains members and more dolphineers enter the water to work with the pods. Before the Dolphin hall was established, Pern believed dolphins to be dumb beasts, and merely called them shipfish.
Much like the terran dolphins, Pernese dolphins swim in pods, and each pod has a leader. The leader is usually an old, experienced female. Each pod can communicate with other pods using their sonar. The pods gather annually to trade stories, initiate youngsters, and such.
Dolphins recycle names, passing them on through generations. Names like Kibbe (Kib), Dart (Dar), Aphrodite (Afro), Atlanta (Atla) and others have been used since dolphins first came to Pern. The shortened names are more common currently, since the longer versions were lost with the intricacies of language, but they are resurfacing as well.
Dolphins serve several purposes to Pernese humans. They escort boats to provide guidance to schools of fish, to rescue and protect in case someone goes overboard. They alert humans about weather and Thread, and other useful tasks. Dolphins can use their sonar as a primitive ultrasound, to diagnose things like pregnancy. They have proved themselves invaluable to Healers willing to work with them.
In return, the Fishers give the dolphins some of their catch, and the dolphineers give their charges any medical attention they might need.
Dolphins are quite independent, and their bond with their dolphineer is more like the bond between a runner and its rider. They usually look to a single dolphineer per dolphin, though if there aren't enough humans to go around a whole pod may share a dolphineer.