(Inia Geoffrensis)

INFORMATION AND CHARACTERISTICS.

Other common names of this dolphin are Boto, bufeo and pink river dolphin. Among the river dolphins, this species is the largest, best known, most researched and with the largest population. There are three subspecies of Amazon river dolphin:
– Inia geoffrensis geoffrensis.*
– Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana.
– Inia geoffrensis boliviensis.

* Recently (2014) this subspecies was split from Inia geoffrensis and defined as an independent species with the name Araguaian River dolphin as mitochondrial studies determined that they are indeed different species.

HOW DO THEY LOOK? PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Morphology.
It is a robust dolphin with a very long snout easily distinguishable. It has a bulbous forehead due to a pronounced melon, chubby cheeks, small eyes and a remarkably flexible neck since its vertebrae are not fused. The pectoral flippers are large and have a triangle shape. He has a heterodont denture since his teeth are conical in the front of the jaw while the back pieces have a flange.

Order: Cetacea
Superfamily: Inioidea
Family: Iniidae
Genus: Inia

Weight and size.
Adults are between 1.53 and 2.4 meters in length, but this depends on the subspecies in question. The largest individual recorded was a female, weighing 98.5 kilograms.

Skin Coloration.
The most distinctive feature of this dolphin is the pink color that it acquires with age. The lower part of the body is usually clearer, and some individuals have gray patches.

Distinctive characteristic.
It is the only species of cetacean with heterodont dentition, and its dorsal fin is so small that it rather looks like a triangular crest.

Amazon River Dolphin – Inia Geoffrensis.

WHERE DO THEY LIVE? DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT.

The Amazon River dolphin inhabits only the freshwater systems of South America. Its distribution includes the basins of the Amazon and Orinoco rivers and the tributaries of these rivers in Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. However, each subspecies lives in defined areas: I. g. Geoffrensis thrives in the Amazon and Araguaia river basins except for the upper Teotonio rapids in the Madeira river basin in Bolivia. I.g. Boliviensis inhabits above the Teotonio rapids in the basin of the Amazon River and, I. g. Humboldtiana dwells in the basin of the Orinoco River.

The Amazon River dolphin can live in areas of slow movement, in deep water channels, in flooded forests, in confluences where clear waters and sewage mix, in narrow channels and possibly under waterfalls and rapids.

WHAT DO THEY EAT? DIET AND EATING HABITS.

The Amazon pink dolphin consumes a variety of prey more diverse than other species of dolphins. Fish, crabs and small turtles are part of the diet of this cetacean that regularly hunts alone and consumes 2.5 percent of its total weight each day.

The diet of these dolphins includes 43 species of fish. Their favorite fish belong to the families Sciaenidae, Cichlidae, and the one of the feared piranhas, Serrasalmidae.

It is a natural hunter. Mostly active during the day, it knows that under the waterfalls or at the mouths of the rivers, it is easier to catch the fish that pass through the currents. Sometimes it looks for food at the riverbed. The hard shells of turtles do not deter this dolphin from eating these reptiles because for such prey it has a potent and long “snout” that helps break the hard parts.

Sometimes it associates with the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) or the tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis) to hunt in a coordinated way and share the food.

HOW DO THEY BEHAVE? BEHAVIOR

Observations concluded that the Amazon River dolphin moves slowly. Its speed while swimming is only 1.5 to 3.2 kilometers per hour, but it has occasional bursts reaching up to 14 to 22 kilometers per hour.

It is not as sociable as the oceanic dolphins since it usually travels in groups of 2 or 3 individuals, mostly mothers with a calf. It is, therefore, a lone dolphin. The larger groups, with 12 to 15 members, are temporal associations with the purpose of feeding or mating.

It is somewhat shy with humans, but sometimes it shows curiosity. It is also very playful, and it has been seen pulling the aquatic grass and throwing pieces of wood. Curiously, at times its food is also its friend: it usually plays with fish and turtles.

It uses echolocation to perceive what is in its environment and capture prey. The “clicks” are the basis of their communication and reach from 16 to 170 kilohertz.

HOW DO THEY REPRODUCE? MATING AND REPRODUCTION.

Scientists believe that this species is monogamous, but after noticing the male’s aggressiveness during mating and the multiple scars on its body, they began considering the idea of polygamy because this is the evidence of a possible competition for females.

Males and females reach sexual maturity at about five years of age or when the former is already about 2 meters in length, and the latter is between 1.60 and 1.75 meters. When a male finds a receptive female, he communicates his mating intentions by biting the female’s flippers.

11 months after mating, a single offspring is born between May and July measuring about 0.8 meters long. The time between each birth can last up to 5 years.

WHAT IS THEIR CONSERVATION STATUS? THREATS AND CONSERVATION.

Conservation Status: Data Deficient.

The fact that the pink dolphin has a “Data Deficient” conservation status on the Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature entails a danger not completely unknown, but that makes difficult to implement conservation strategies. It is evident that the species faces a serious problem for survival in its natural habitat and until 2011 had a classification as a vulnerable species.

Their principal anthropogenic threats are:

– Overfishing.
This practice reduces the availability of food for the species.

– Dam construction.
The development of hydroelectric dams in the river, alter the conditions of their habitat separating populations which reduce the availability of mating partners and the genetic diversity.

– Uncontrolled logging.
When logging for converting the forests into agricultural land, the number of animals consuming the products of the trees decreases, and the amount of food for the Boto reduces in consequence.

– River traffic.
Excessive boat traffic causes collisions with these dolphins where the propellers cause them serious injuries.

– Habitat pollution.
The increasing contamination of the river brings all kind of problems to these dolphins and reduces their chances to survival drastically.

In their natural habitat, alligators, jaguars, anacondas and Bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) are their major threats. In Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia, there are laws to protect this species. Since 1986, the Cetacean Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission has been working to protect and design conservation strategies for all endangered river dolphins.

Amazon River Dolphin Infographic!

(Click for expand)

References

Annalisa Berta. Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises: A Natural History and Species Guide. University of Chicago Press, 2015.

William F. Perrin, Bernd Würsig, J.G.M. ‘Hans’ Thewissen. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press, 2009. Page 26

Sy Montgomery. Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009.

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/10831/0

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0046251/00001

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Introduction

There are only five species of dolphins that are able to thrive in freshwater and the Amazon River Dolphin is one of them. Many people assume that all dolphins live in saltwater so this is interesting to learn if you weren’t aware of it. There are several subspecies of River Dolphins to learn about.

Description

Depending on the location where they reside, River Dolphins will vary in size. Some of them can be up to 8 feet long but most of them are much smaller than that. They can also be found in a variety of colors. Some that you are known to exist include gray, black, brown, pink, yellow, and white. Due to the many different colors, they are often mistaken for other forms of aquatic life.

Distribution

The River Dolphin, as the name implies, lives in Rivers and that means they are able to survive in freshwater. They tend to stick to the brackish and coastal regions. They are found in the

Amazon, Ganges, Yangtze, Mekong, and Indus Rivers. Many of these rivers are home to very poor villagers and the locations can be very dense.

Plenty of these rivers are filled with dark, murky water and plenty of pollution. What is very interesting is that they can live in conditions that other species of dolphins would not be able to. It isn’t understood why this is possible, and more research has to be done. With so few species being able to live in freshwater, there are some theories but no definite answers at this time.

Behavior

River Dolphins are very social, and like others, they form pods. There can be just a few of them or more than 100 in a pod. They do form very strong bonds and they are quite protective of each other. The young tend to be secured in the middle of the pod in order to keep them safe. The females have also been noted to care for the young of each other in a cooperative effort.

These dolphins are believed to be very social and to have a complex hierarchy that can be hard to fully understand. They tend to have some pods that have primarily females or males in them. This could be part of their social organization.

Feeding

Fish are the main components of the diet for the River Dolphin, and they can eat large amounts of them daily. They use a variety of differenttechniques to get the schools of fish with ease. Usually, these efforts involve teamwork and collaboration that is very in sync and interesting to observe. For larger pods, they often break up into smaller groups for feeding purposes to be carried out.

Reproduction

The time of year for mating can vary based on the location of the River Dolphin. The females usually are ready to mate around 8 years of age and for the males it is about 10 years old. The males may heavily compete with each other for mating. The young will be born from 10 to 12 months later, tail first.

The pod is very protective and they will help the mother during the birthing process. They will protect the young calf and help it to the surface for air. They will also help keep predators away. The young will grow rapidly due to the fat content found in the milk that the mother produces. They will drink the milk for 1 ½ to 2 years, but they will also start to consume fish when they are about 6 months old.

Conservation Status and Threats

The River Dolphin is considered to be in a range from vulnerable to critically endangered. It is hard to get a good idea of the number of them due to the different species and their habitat. There are plenty of issues for the River Dolphin to worry about in their natural habitat. They may be caught up in fishing nets or collide with boats. Heavily pollution has played a vital role in the reduction of numbers of them in many locations.

Some of the conservation efforts involve fishing with better equipment and tools. However, since the rivers where plenty of the dolphins live are around very poor cultures that can be tough to improve. Overfishing is also a concern as the villagers heavily depend on the food for survival. Yet that can leave a lack of food for the dolphins to survive. Pollution problems are also higher in areas where they don’t have proper water and sewer systems in place.

One of the River Dolphins called the Baiji, has declared functionally extinct in December of 2006. The last time one of them was seen in the wild was in 2004. While there were some reports in 2007 of sightings of one in the Yangtze River, it couldn’t be confirmed.

The pink river dolphin is a freshwater dolphin who lives in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in South America. They are also known as Boto, and their scientific name is Inia geoffrensis. Although usually, they are pink, sometimes they are also gray, white or a mix of these colors. The pink dolphin of Hong Kong (Sousa chinensis) is another species with pink color mixed with gray, but they are entirely different species that live in far away from each other.

One of the theories that explain the reason for its unusual coloration is related to its social behavior. Some think that fights between some specimens, especially males, leave visible scars on their skin that turn pink with the passage of time.

Other researchers suggest that it is a natural way to camouflage themselves against predators, as reddish coloration is very common in the waters of their aquatic environment.

The Amazon River dolphin, also known as Boto (Inia geoffrensis), is a freshwater dolphin that lives in the Amazon River and the Orinoco River systems which include several countries in South America.

These dolphins are Pink Dolphins move around these rivers to every place where they can reach without going to the ocean.

Other pink dolphins such as the Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis) live in an area that covers the east and west coasts of northern Australia, eastern China, the Indo-Malayan archipelago, and the Bay of Bengal in the east of India.