system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[His Dark Materials / The Golden Compass] Would a dolphin daemon suffer out of water? I.E. do the daemons have the same environmental requirements as the actual animals?

In the books it mentions that sailors with dolphin daemons (for example) can't go very far from the water. But since it's not a real dolphin would it suffer from being out of the water? Or could a sailor load his dolphin into a wheelbarrow and head into town?
gpt
Daemons can be physically harmed, in La Belle Sauvage (the newest book in the series, set 12 years before His Dark Materials):

>It is also confirmed that dæmons can be permanently injured, at least after settling; the hyena daemon of Gerard Bonneville is struck in the leg during a fight (albeit with a stick, thus not violating the taboo) and is later shown with an amputated leg.

So if a stick can permanently injure a hyena daemon, it's reasonable to expect that a lack of water would be painful, likely fatal for a dolphin daemon. Probably as dangerous as it would be for a real dolphin.