Pink River Dolphins Rescued

Twelve pink river dolphins were rescued by Bolivian biologists. They had swum up a smaller river where they were trapped after flood debris blocked the river’s mouth. Recently the smaller river had begun to shrink due to drought conditions so the biologists captured the stranded dolphins and transported them back to the larger river, Rio Grande. If they had not been relocated, they might have died in the smaller shrinking river. They had swum into the smaller one (Rio Paila) to breed.

Biologists from the Noelle Kempf History Museum rescued the dolphins. The museum, located in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, conducts research in addition to hosting displays of fossils and animals. Adult amazon river, or boto dolphins, are about 6 feet long. They use echolocation for navigation through river waters that contain much underwater vegetation. Overfishing, excessive boating and habitat loss have reduced their population to an endangered status.

Story by Jake Richardson, originally published August 2010 on Care2.

Photo by MikeatSea via Virtual Tourist.