{"id":951099,"date":"2026-11-03T13:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T13:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951099\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T13:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T13:10:13","slug":"researchers-dropped-a-camera-into-a-murky-river-in-the-amazon-then-a-rare-and-peculiar-animal-appeared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951099\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers dropped a camera into a murky river in the Amazon \u2013 then a rare and peculiar animal appeared"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Back in 2024, conservationists shared spellbinding footage of Amazon river dolphins tumbling and rolling in front of the camera.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;River dolphins are rare, unique, and wonderful,\u201d said Emily Cunningham, global lead at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wwf.panda.org\/discover\/our_focus\/freshwater_practice\/freshwater_inititiaves\/river_dolphins_initiative\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WWF River Dolphin Rivers Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These enigmatic mammals don\u2019t look like their marine cousins, she said, \u201cnor do the different species look the same as each other. Some river dolphins have long, slender beaks (snouts) and tiny eyes, some have no beak at all, and one species is bubblegum pink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Watch: Amazon river dolphins filmed on Expedici\u00f3n Aguarico\/Esteban Barrera WWF-Ecuador<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These dolphins don\u2019t just stand out for their baby pink colour. Unlike marine dolphins, they also have flexible necks that let them turn their heads from side to side. Along with the ability to paddle forward with one fin and backwards with another, this helps the dolphins navigate\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rainforest-alliance.org\/species\/river-dolphin\/#:~:text=For%20one%2C%20Amazon%20River%20dolphins,maneuver%20when%20the%20river%20floods.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">flooded forests<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 avoiding trees \u2013 when water levels are high.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While dolphins prancing in the ocean is a familiar sight to many, seeing a river dolphin is much rarer. There are only tens of thousands of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/facts-about-river-dolphins\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Amazon river dolphins<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 also known as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wwfint.awsassets.panda.org\/downloads\/amazon_riverdolphins_2021_1.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">boto<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 left in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins\u00a0where they live.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll species of river dolphins are endangered or critically endangered,\u201d said Cunningham. \u201cThis is due to bycatch (where they get caught in fishing nets), changes in river flow due to dams, irrigation channels and climate change, and pollution. River dolphins are vital in maintaining the health of their rivers, which are the lifeblood for over one billion people worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2546\" height=\"1420\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Amazon-river-dolphins-1.jpg\" alt=\"Amazon river dolphins\" class=\"wp-image-112231\"\/>The Amazon river dolphins were filmed in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Credit: Esteban Barrera, WWF-Ecuador<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WWF shared this footage in 2024 to raise awareness of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/worldcetaceanalliance.org\/2022\/10\/24\/freshwater-dolphin-day\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Freshwater Dolphin Day<\/a>\u00a0and the importance of protecting these unique animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRiver dolphins maintain the health of the rivers, on which we as people depend,\u201d said Maria Jos\u00e9 Torres (Communication Officer Terrestrial Landscapes WWF Ecuador). The charity works with local communities to monitor pink dolphins (Inia geoffrensis)\u00a0and gray dolphins (Sotalia fluviatis),\u00a0both found in the Ecuadorian Amazon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey are the guardians of the freshwater that guarantees the permanence of the jungle. A living Amazon is key to maintaining the balance of the entire planet,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More wild stories from around the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back in 2024, conservationists shared spellbinding footage of Amazon river dolphins tumbling and rolling in front of the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":["post-951099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}