Startide Rising

The damaged spaceship Streaker is on a water world, hiding from enemies. The crew divides into various factions and goes to different locations on the planet for reasons that are a little murky. I had a hard time figuring out who went where and with whom and which mutinous factions were in league with one another. Eventually it becomes clear in a somewhat unusual space opera with sentient dolphins and chimps, as well as humans.

I had previously read David Brinn's Sundiver, the first book in this series, and didn't care for it. One needn't read Sundiver before reading Startide Rising. In fact, I recommend skipping Sundiver; it's better left unread. Startide Rising is a better book, though it isn't great.