Ballphins didn't get back home

i have the same issue.. my dolphines are not coming back

Same here. I tried to follow them once or twice and it led me to a herd of homeless ballphins both times. What I've noticed so far:

 

1) The moment they come out of their houses at the day's start, they start swimming towards the general area of the homeless herd, which is located several screen away. Occasionally, it appears this gets them stuck swimming against a shore instead of going around it.

2) Once they go far away enough, they don't come back unless you go. If you find them and stay near there at dusk, they will start swimming towards their homes and will enter the house if you follow them all the way. (However, they will swim away again next day.) I think that's cause once you go too far, they are unloaded and they don't update.

3) The ballphins seem to be affected randomly by this bug. Currently, I have six ballphin palaces and 4 of them have been abandoned. Only 2 of the ballphins actually stay near their houses.

Count me into the "abandoned palaces" club. Built 4 of them near a temporary camp as a crocodog death pit, only to find them all empty soon after.

Is there any workaround? (got a bunch of boat cannons and a twitchy finger...)