Encantado a Mythical Creature That Can Change From a Pink Dolphin to a Human and Back Again
To visitors of the Peruvian Amazon, the "boto", or pink river dolphin is a rare and beautiful creature. In South American civilisation however, it is considered a mythical figure that has been revered and reviled in equal measure. In reality, the pink river dolphin is one of two species of endangered freshwater dolphins that are found in similar locations throughout the Amazon and Orinoco river basins.
Inia geffrensis, or the pink river dolphin is different from the grey or tuxuci (Sotalia fluviatilis) river dolphins, which acquit more resemblance to marine dolphins with their bottlenoses and habit of leaping out of the h2o. As its proper noun suggests, the pink river dolphin is most recognizable past its unique color making it a huge draw for explorers of the Peruvian Amazon. While much of "boto" life and its unique characteristics remain unfathomable, we think you might be surprised by these facts.
Top 5 River Dolphin facts
Fact 1. The Amazon pinkish river dolphin can modify its color!
Although Amazon pink river dolphins are famous for its pink hue, they weren't born this way. The dolphins are really born gray and slowly plough pink equally they age. Male person dolphins are strikingly pinker than their female counterparts; the coloration idea to be a product of scar tissue resulting from rough games or fighting over conquests. However, their final color can be influenced by their behavior, capillary placement, diet, and exposure to sunlight; with brighter pinks alluring more attending from the females. These river dolphins can sport markings that range from by and large grey with some pink spots, to full flamingo pinkish.
Fun fact: when the dolphins get excited, they can affluent a brighter pink, like to humans!
Fact 2. The Amazon pink river dolphin has the largest bodies and brains of any freshwater dolphin
The Amazon pinkish river dolphin is the largest and smartest out of the v freshwater species. A full-grown dolphin tin grow up to nine feet (ii.7 meters) long, weigh upward to 400 pounds (181 kilograms), and live to xxx years former. Their diet is the most diverse amidst toothed whales (especially during the wet flavor), consisting of more than 53 species, including piranhas. They as well accept unusually large brains, with 40 percent more brain capacity than humans! While they are known to exist shy creatures, they are fascinatingly drawn to people, playing curiously with local children, and without demonstrating aggressive behavior. They as well communicate using loftier-frequency sonar clicks to build a 3-dimensional echogram of their dark riverine globe.
Fact 3. The Amazon pinkish river dolphin is secretive in nature
It is an enigma as to how many "botos" exist in the Amazon, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists them as 'data deficient'. Part of this status is because while dolphins have a reputation for gathering in groups, the pinkish river dolphin is often seen lonely or in small groups of ii-4 individuals, unremarkably mother and young. One challenge in counting them is that the riverine waters are often murky with silt. Another is that they practise not go out of their style to make themselves seen, often putting only the tips of their heads out of the water. They spend a lot of time underwater, and their shy and elusive behavior adds to their mythical quality.
Paradoxically, the good news is that despite living in small groups, Amazon pink river dolphins are incredibly curious and approachable animals towards humans. They can be ofttimes spotted playing in the river by our guests during our skiff excursions.
Endangered Amazon Animals: Pink River Dolphins (Boto) In the Peruvian Amazon
Fact 4. The Amazon pink river dolphin are gymnasts of the h2o
Pink river dolphins are super agile, as the vertebrae in their necks are unfused, unlike other dolphins. The ability to plow their heads to an angle of 90 degrees allows them to maneuver around tree trunks, rocks, and other obstacles. They can also swim forward with i flipper while paddling backward with the other, letting them plough with more than precision. They can often be seen pond upside downwards, possibly to assistance them run across the bottom of the river better. Despite their small optics they have good sight in a higher place and underwater and have no problem navigating the Amazon's muddy waters to grab their casualty thank you to an excellent sense of echolocation.
Fact 5. The Amazon pink river dolphin is considered a mythical creature
The Amazon pink river dolphin is the subject of many South American folklore, not all benevolent. One such fable claims that the dolphins morph into handsome men known as "boto encantado" to seduce and impregnate womenfolk past dark. Another claims that if y'all become pond lonely, the dolphins may whisk you away to a magical underwater urban center, which has led to the local fright of going about the water betwixt dusk and dawn, or inbound water bodies solo. Some as well believe them to be the guardians of the Amazon manatees, so those who wish to see a manatee must first reconcile with the pinkish dolphin. Information technology is considered bad luck to harm the dolphins, and even worse luck to swallow them.
In the Peruvian Amazon, the status of the pink river dolphin every bit a semi-magical being may accept helped protect the species by encouraging local communities to treat them well and preserve their numbers. Unfortunately, other threats such as environmental pollution, by-catch, and deliberate killing of dolphins for allurement in fisheries still pose a threat. The most recent assessment past the IUCN Cherry List in 2018 categorizes the species every bit "endangered" as evidence suggests its total population size has decreased fifty% or more over a period of 75 years. That same year, the Peruvian Government canonical the 'National Action Program for the Conservation of River Dolphins and the Amazonian Manatee' — a disquisitional step in the conservation of these species integrating scientific research such equally ecological and population studies.
Want to see Amazon pinkish river dolphins up close?
If you want to witness these friendly, still elusive creatures up shut in the Peruvian Amazon, knowledgeable guides are a must. We know this for a fact, and that is why our naturalist guides are local born-and-bred, with years of experience on the Amazonian way of life. Nosotros dare say some of the dolphins fifty-fifty recognize them!
Detect out more about our Aria Amazon or make-new Aqua Nera expeditions in Peru.
Related Posts
Source: https://www.aquaexpeditions.com/blog/amazon/facts-amazon-pink-river-dolphin/