Ea

Ea is the main character of the novel. She is a spinner dolphin, a member of the Longi tribe. As she eases into young adulthood, she finds herself feeling more like an outsider among the society because of how little interest she has in mating. She feels like she has been outcast because she rejects every suitor, and thinks people see her as having something wrong with her that makes that the case.

She is a good deal more compassionate than most of the members of the Longi tribe, which is already a peaceful and benevolent society for the most part as it is. She hears the song of the Rorqual whale from a distance and vows to help him. She feels at home when her fellow dolphins perform a ritual meant to cast out bad thoughts and hatred.

She spends a good part of the novel a...