Gribus, Ghiarren, and their sapient trailblazer starcraft the Winking Tempest approach Olumai and the mysterious sentience that has shown an interest in them.
Flocks of hundreds of these air whales circle the moss planet of Olumai, filter feeding from the atmosphere. They are born flying, first tumbling into the vortices of the wingtips as tiny fry, then gaining full flight as they thrive in the dynamic microclimate stirred by the passing of their vast parents. They then join the triangular flock in its perpetual circumnavigation.
I love the sense of vast other- worldliness!