Pink Dolphin Watching and Conservation On the Amazon

A pink dolphin surfaces too close to our boat, they are inquisitive where they are not threatened

Pink and gray river dolphins abound in our area of the Amazon River. Some are so bold that they even slap their tails underneath the boat while we are watching. 

The pink dolphins are highly adapted for flooded forest movement due to their reduced dorsal fin and extra vertebrae in their necks. Both adaptations allow uninhibited movement for the pink dolphin in the flooded forest stage, where other typical dolphins would get their dorsal fin hung up on vines and branches.

The mobility of their heads is very important for snapping up fish and maneuvering around snags in the varzeas.

The gray River Dolphins are more similar to our ocean going porpoises.

Take a peek at the YouTube video I put together for a quick sample of Pink Dolphin Watching I recently did a Drone video of gray river dolphins With Cedric Gilleman from the NGO SOLINIA.

SOLINIA is a Peruvian non-profit association developing programs for the conservation and protection of animals in the Peruvian amazon basin, more specifically the aquatic mammals.

Cedric has reason to be worried about the future for the Pink dolphins. Aside from contamination and fishing pressures, in some areas the dolphins are being turned into bait for catfish that is exported from Peru.

With the efforts of Cedric, his team and the Fundacion Omacha from Colombia have been influencing legislation in Peru and Colombia to further protect the river dolphins. If you have time please check them out to see what can be done to help. They have a tremendous project for radio tagging and tracking dolphin movements (never been done in the Amazon) as well as surveying rivers and creating community awareness for the protection of the species.

Thank you Cedric from SOLINIA and Fernando Trujillo from Fundacion Omacha for continuing their efforts for the conservation of river dolphins in South America.