Amazon Pink River Dolphin...
Legendary creature of the rainforest
"There is no fundamental difference between man and
the higher mammals in their mental faculties....
The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it
is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind.
We have seen that the senses and intuitions, the various emotions and
faculties, such as love, memory, attention and curiosity, imitation,
reason, etc., of which man boasts, may be found in an incipient, or
even sometimes a well-developed condition, in the lower animals."
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Amazon Pink River Dolphin
Water regulates all forms of life in the Amazon
rainforest. Its live force is the Amazon
river, biggest on Earth by volume.
See a map of the Amazon river basin here.
Everyone, plants, animals and people has to dance to the rhythm of rain - from wet to dry season.
Among the beautiful creatures we find in this magical environment that is the Amazon river basin, is the Amazon Pink river dolphin.
It's known under many different names...
- Boto Vermelho
- Amazon dolphin
- Bouto
- Bufeo Colorado
- Tonina
For Guarayo Indians instead, it's known as Inia.
There is a huge bundle of legends and myths surrounding the Amazon Pink river dolphin, as Amazon mythology is as vast and varying as the cultures that inhabit the Amazon rainforest.
They have survived unharmed for centuries because of the local belief that they have magical powers.
Thanks mainly to superstition they've managed to survive, but becoming an endangered specie at an accelerating pace.
Locals don't kill them because they think it's very bad luck.
Don't eat them, because they think dolphins used to be humans long time ago and they can turn back into humans whenever they want.
To some, the Boto turns into a handsome man at night, seduces and impregnates their wives and daughters before returning to the river and becoming Boto again.
To others, they're considered evil or plain bad luck.
When women give birth to a child with Spina Bifida - birth defect that prevents the baby's skull from growing properly, leaving an opening that resembles the blow hole of dolphins - locals say that their babies are the dolphins.
Some Indian tribes regard the gray dolphin as sacred animal.
Semi-divine creatures, Brujos (Spanish for Wizards) to be respected, almost reverenced.
The Amazon Pink river dolphin is on the verge of extinction in the Amazon river basin.
Pollution from agriculture, industry and mining, as well as hydroelectric dams are part to blame for.
Fishing nets - particularly Gill nets used in commercial fishing - are regarded as the most dangerous to dolphins.
Dolphins would tear a hole in the nets and steal all the fish, so fishermen don't regard them precisely as friends.
Guess we should teach dolphins the 8th. Commandment, otherwise invite fishermen to continue their business on a different habitat.
Amazon rainforest deforestation is another evil to them, and ultimately to all of us on the Planet for that matter.
Let's see how deforestation and destruction of the Amazon rainforest looks like from Space, produced by WWF.
Would you like to be part of the solution?...
Contact Amazonia Forever...and sign in...
Amazon Pink river dolphin (Inia Geoffrensis) or Boto, occurs in Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Venezuela.
Endemic of the Amazon river and Orinoco river systems.
They come in different colors: rosy colored pink, bright pink, dull-gray pink, gray and albino...
One can't help but to admire and love the Amazon Pink river dolphin...
According to mongabay.com (dated April 30th., 2008), a new species of boto have been identified in the Bolivian Amazon. It is called the Bolivian dolphin (Inia boliviensis). Read more here...
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