Ok so shout out to my friend Alyssa who told me to look into the Baiji Dolphin. Spoiler, this weeks endangered species is not this dolphin, but another freshwater river dolphin. However, I think the story behind my inspo is an interesting one, so I will give a brief summary of this dolphin (and maybe one week I will deep dive into it).

The Chinese river dolphin, or baiji, holds the unenviable record of being the first dolphin species driven to extinction by human beings.

The Yangtze River in China was the baiji’s native home for 20 million years. However, It took less than 50 years for humans to wipe them out. Baiji numbers crashed dramatically and then they disappeared entirely from the river. They were pronounced extinct in 2007 following the failure of a dedicated 6-week expedition in 2006 to find a single one. There have been no confirmed baiji sightings since before 2006, although in 2018 there was a conspiracy that a baiji was sighted in a picture taken.

I just thought that was pretty cool… but now onto the main event!

Endangered Species Of The Week: The Amazon River Dolphin

Also known as the Pink River Dolphin, boto, or bufeo

(Inia geoffrensis) 

There are 6 species of freshwater river dolphins. River dolphins have long beaks and rounded foreheads. The ancestors of river dolphins were marine dolphins that invaded freshwater environments during high sea levels 23 million to 5.3 million years ago.

They are found through much of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela.

A male Amazon river dolphin can grow to over 2.4 metres (8 feet) and 160 kg (350 pounds); females are slightly smaller. Its colour can vary from dark gray to mottled pink-and-gray to bright pink. The young are blue-gray and get pinker as they age.

It is a relatively abundant freshwater cetacean with an estimated population in the tens of thousands. However, it is classified as endangered by the IUCN Red List as numbers keep declining.

Why are they threatened?

POLLUTION

Mercury pollution from small-scale gold mining activities are one of the main threats. The mercury reaches dolphins through the food chain. They mainly eat catfish, which are bottom feeders greatly affected by metals like mercury in the water.

Poaching

The Amazon river dolphin is seen as a competitor for diminished fish populations (such as catfish) and are killed when seen in an effort to reduce competition. In the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, river dolphins are often deliberately killed for use as bait in the “mota” catfish fishery, which gathers fish that demand high prices in the city.

What is being done?

A catfish ban was put into place in 2014, yet the dolphins were still being killed to use as bait.

However, Environmentalists at the Mamirauá reserve in the state of Amazonas have been fighting the local fishing industry for decades. Da Silva’s team tracks the local boto population’s size and health by catching the dolphins with nets and bringing them back to the lab, where they are examined, measured, and then marked prior to release.

Fun Facts:

• The Amazon river dolphin in the largest river dolphin
• They have the equivalent to molar teeth
• River dolphins do not make sensational leaps and dives. Instead, they spend much of their time at river bottoms, probing with sensitive snouts for fish and crustaceans
• Despite having small eyes, river dolphins navigate muddy waters with ease thanks to their amazing sonar ability
• They are often friendly and curious toward people.
• Amazon river dolphins are usually seen in groups. They often swim and play with another small dolphin
• In some parts of the Amazon, river dolphins will herd fish into fishermen’s nets; in other areas, they will raid the nets instead.
• To people of the Amazon, the pink dolphins hold  special importance. Local legend says the creatures have magical powers, including the ability to come ashore at night as humans. Some indigenous people believe killing or eating a river dolphin brings years of bad luck.

What can you do?

Support the Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC)!

• Adopt a Whale: When you adopt a whale or dolphin, you will get a unique insight into their amazing underwater world and learn about the incredible individual you have adopted.
• Donate: When you make a gift to WDC, you make it possible for many teams of researchers and campaigners around the world to fight hard for whales and dolphins.
• Shop at their store: 100% of profits go to help protect whales and dolphins.
• Collect spare change: They will send you a collection box for you to collect all your loose change. Every penny helps support our work to save whales and dolphins.
• Sign up for their newsletter to stay informed!

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/animal/river-dolphin

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/amazon-river-dolphin

https://www.businessinsider.com/pink-river-dolphin-brazil-endangered-2020-4

See y’all next week!