17 Oct
2006 - Amazon River, Peru – Hundreds of dolphins
were spotted along Peru’s Samiria and Maranon-Amazonas
Rivers as part of South America’s first regional
freshwater dolphin survey.
The fourth of a five-stage expedition
to establish river dolphins numbers in the Amazon
and Orinoco Rivers and their tributaries, South
American scientists counted 818 pink dolphins
(Inia geffrensis) and grey river dolphins (Sotalia
fluviatilis) in 410 sightings.
The largest groups of the dolphins
were seen at river confluences where fish are
in most abundance.
“Preliminary observations show
that the dolphin’s habitat in Peru appears to
be in a good state,” said Freddy Arévalo
with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Peru.
“This state of affairs owes much to the conservation
initiatives and sustainable resource management
programme which have been implemented in the area,
including those of WCS and WWF.”
The results in Peru were significantly
more than the 131 pink dolphins spotted on the
previous part of the expedition on Colombia’s
Meta River.
“The Meta River has been hit
hard by pollution and over-fishing,” said Marcela
Portocarrero, a scientist from the Omacha Foundation,
who is taking part in the dolphin survey. “This
has created a marked decline in fish stocks, made
evident by low numbers of dolphins, who depend
on fish for food.”
The first let of the survey
recorded 270 dolphins on the Orinoco River in
Venezuela in June 2006 and only 40 in Ecuador
on the Lagarto Cocha, Cuyabeno and Yasuni Rivers
in July 2006.
A fifth expedition is planned
for Bolivia and a possible sixth expedition on
the Amazon River from Peru via Colombia to Brazil
in January 2007.
The overall aim of the survey
is to gather data on one of the endangered freshwater
species in the world in order to design a management
and monitoring plan as well as get to know the
state of the rivers and watersheds of some of
South American’s largest rivers.
“This dolphin census gives us
the wide view of river dolphins in South America,”
said José Saulo Usma, WWF Colombia’s Freshwater
Coordinator. “This is a first step to build an
up-to-date database for the species, something
that is fundamental to our future conservation
work.”
END NOTES:
• The South American river dolphin
survey is an initiative led by the Omacha Foundation,
with support from the Wildlife Conservation Society,
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and WWF
Colombia.
• The pink river dolphin (Inia
geoffrensis), also known as the boto, is found
in lowland fast flowing, white-water rivers, clearwater
or blackwater rivers. The species is also present
in the largest tributaries, lakes, confluences
and seasonally flooded forests. It depends on
healthy fish populations for its survival. Historically,
the boto has been spared human persecution because
of the belief that it has special powers. Today
however, it is increasingly viewed by fishermen
as an unwanted competitor for fish. The boto can
get tangled up in fishing nets, or suffer wounds
by colliding with boats.
• In addition to spotting the
pink river dolphin, scientists are also on the
look out for the grey river dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis),
a dolphin species darker and smaller than the
boto, with a shorter snout and a distinctive triangular
dorsal fin.
Julio Mario Fernández,
Communications Coordinator
WWF Colombia
