This video is called Dolphins rescued from low level river in Bolivia.
From the BBC:
18 September 2012 Last updated at 18:19 GMT
Bolivia enacts law to protect Amazon pink dolphins
The pink dolphin, known locally as bufeo, is Bolivia‘s only freshwater mammal species
Bolivian President Evo Morales has enacted a law aimed at protecting a unique species of dolphins that live in the country’s Amazon rivers.
The new legislation bans fishing freshwater pink dolphins and declares the species a national treasure.
At a ceremony along the shores of the Ibare river, President Morales called on the armed forces to protect the habitats of the pink dolphins.
The species is threatened by erosion, pollution and logging in the Amazon.
The Bolivian pink dolphin, whose scientific name is Inia boliviensis, is similar to mammals found in neighbouring Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.
Male Bolivian freshwater pink dolphins can weigh up to 200kg (440 pounds).
An appendix to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (Cites) says the species is vulnerable because of overfishing in the Amazon basin.
But it says the main threat is the contamination of rivers in the region by mercury, used in illegal gold mining operations.
See also here.
In the Amazon Basin in central Brazil, local legends claim that it is bad luck to kill a river dolphin—just looking one in the eye may cause a lifetime of bad dreams. But there’s another reason to protect these large freshwater creatures: A new study finds that instead of two species in the basin, there are actually three. And each is rarer than anyone realized: here.
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Reblogged this on Ann Novek–With the Sky as the Ceiling and the Heart Outdoors.
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I saw the pink dolphins many times while I was traveling up the Amazon. Amazing, they adapted to fresh water. I know otters species have done this also. Beautiful animals worth protecting.
Thanks for posting,
Cindy
Hi Cindy, thanks for reacting!
Freshwater dolphins in South America (and in Asia) indeed evolved from marine ancestors (their ancestors, again, had evolved from land mammals over 50 million years ago).
Otters, on the other hand, first evolved in fresh water, from weasel-like land mammal ancestors. Only the sea otter adapted to the sea later.
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