<\/p>\n Fishers help scientists and veterinarians to capture pink river dolphins in the Amazon River for health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Fishers help scientists and veterinarians to capture pink river dolphins in the Amazon River for health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River to perform health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River to perform health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Mercury threat spreads through the Amazon food chain<\/p>\n Trujillo directs the Omacha Foundation, a conservation group focused on aquatic wildlife and river ecosystems, and leads health evaluations of river dolphins. It\u2019s a painstaking operation involving experienced fishermen, veterinarians and locals that takes months of planning and happens a couple of times a year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take blood and tissue samples to assess mercury,\u00a8 Trujillo told The Associated Press from the Colombian riverside town of Puerto Narino. \u201cBasically, we\u2019re using dolphins as sentinels for the river\u2019s health.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River for health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River for health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River for health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)\n <\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians capture a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River for health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n Scientists and veterinarians examine a pink river dolphin in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)\n <\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians examine a pink river dolphin in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A veterinarian draws a blood sample in a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River during health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n A veterinarian draws a blood sample in a pink river dolphin in the Amazon River during health checks in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Mercury contamination<\/a> comes mainly from illegal gold mining \u2014 a growing industry across the Amazon Basin<\/a> \u2014 and forest clearing that washes mercury that naturally occurs in soil into waterways.<\/p>\n The miners use mercury to separate gold from sediment, then dump the sludge back into rivers, where it enters fish eaten by people and dolphins. Rising global gold prices have fueled a mining boom, and mercury pollution in remote waterways has increased.<\/p>\n Mercury can damage the brain, kidneys, lungs and immune system and cause mood swings, memory loss and muscle weakness in people, according to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Pregnant women and young children are most at risk, with prenatal exposure linked to developmental delays and reduced cognitive function.<\/p>\n \u201cThe maximum any living being should have is 1 milligram per kilogram,\u201d Trujillo said. \u201cHere, we\u2019re seeing 20 to 30 times that amount.\u201d <\/p>\n In previous years, his team found 16 to 18 milligrams per kilogram of mercury in dolphins, which can suffer the same neurological damage, organ damage and other problems as humans. In Colombia\u2019s Orinoco River, levels in some dolphins have reached as high as 42, levels scientists say are among the most extreme ever recorded in the species.<\/p>\n Trujillo said it\u2019s difficult to prove the toxin is directly killing dolphins. Further studies are underway, he added, noting that \u201cany mammal with a huge amount of mercury will die.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scientists examine blood samples that were drawn from pink river dolphins in the Amazon River to determine mercury levels in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Scientists examine blood samples that were drawn from pink river dolphins in the Amazon River to determine mercury levels in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n When Trujillo and his team tested their own blood three years ago, his results showed more than 36 times the safe limit \u2014 36.4 milligrams per kilogram \u2014 a level he attributes to decades working in mercury-affected areas and a diet heavy in fish. With medical assistance, his levels have dropped to about 7 milligrams.<\/p>\n \u201cMercury is an invisible enemy until it builds up to a sufficient amount, then it starts to affect the central nervous system,\u201d Trujillo told AP after his team managed to capture and test four pink dolphins. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing evidence of it in Indigenous communities.\u201d<\/p>\n A series of scientific studies and reports \u2014 including work by the International Pollutants Elimination Network and academic researchers \u2014 have found high mercury exposure among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon, including in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Suriname and Bolivia. Hair samples showed averages well above WHO\u2019s safe threshold of 1 part per million, with one Colombian community registering more than 22 milligrams per kilogram.<\/p>\n Dolphin populations in this part of the Amazon have plunged, with Trujillo\u2019s monitoring showing a 52% decline in pink dolphins and a 34% drop in gray river dolphins, a different species, in recent decades. The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the pink dolphin as endangered in 2018. Trujillo said exact numbers for the Amazon are unknown, but his organization estimates 30,000 to 45,000 across the basin.<\/p>\n Pink river dolphins also face threats from overfishing, accidental entanglement in nets, boat traffic, habitat loss and prolonged drought<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians weigh a pink river dolphin after a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians weigh a pink river dolphin after a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Colombia says it\u2019s tackling illegal mining and mercury pollution. It banned mercury use in mining in 2018, ratified the Minamata Convention aimed at reducing mercury in the environment and submitted an action plan in 2024. Authorities cite joint operations with Brazil and recent enforcement sweeps, but watchdogs say efforts remain uneven and illegal mining persists across much of the country. <\/p>\n Other Amazon nations say they\u2019re stepping up. Brazil has launched raids and moved to restrict satellite internet used by illegal gold-mining camps that use mercury, aiming to disrupt logistics and supply lines. Peru recently seized a record 4 tons of smuggled mercury. Ecuador, Suriname and Guyana have filed action plans to cut mercury use in small-scale gold mining.<\/p>\n A delicate operation to test dolphins safely<\/p>\n The dolphin testing operation relies on Jos\u00e9 \u201cMariano\u201d Rangel, a charismatic former fisherman from Venezuela. He leads the charge when it\u2019s time to haul the animals \u2014 which can weigh as much as 160 kilograms (about 353 pounds) \u2014 into the small boats. It\u2019s a moment that can end with a stinging blow to the jaw as the dolphins thrash to break free.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most difficult part of the captures is enclosing the dolphins,\u201d Rangel said.<\/p>\n A portable ultrasound machine scans lungs, heart and other vital organs for disease. The team checks for respiratory problems, internal injuries and signs of reproduction, photograph the animals\u2019 skin and scars, swab blowholes and genital openings for bacterial cultures, and collect tissue for mercury testing. Microchips are implanted so researchers can identify each animal and avoid duplicating tests.<\/p>\n \n Scientists and veterinarians examine a pink river dolphin in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)\n <\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians examine a pink river dolphin in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n Veterinarian Maria Jimena Valderrama implants a microchip into a pink river dolphin after a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)\n <\/p>\n Veterinarian Maria Jimena Valderrama implants a microchip into a pink river dolphin after a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n Omacha has recorded antimicrobial resistance \u2014 bacteria that can\u2019t be killed by common medicines \u2014 and respiratory problems. They have also identified possible emerging diseases, such as papilloma virus, that could pose risks to both dolphins and humans.<\/p>\n After a long morning hauling and testing dolphins, the scientists return to a laboratory in Puerto Narino that\u2019s covered with posters of dolphins and manatees and the bones and skulls of dolphins and other animals. They test some samples, prepare others to send to larger facilities and end their day repairing nets and refilling kits to do it all again at dawn.<\/p>\n For Trujillo, each capture, scan and blood test is part of a larger fight.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are one step away from being critically endangered and then extinct,\u201d Trujillo said. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians free a pink river dolphin after a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Scientists and veterinarians free a pink river dolphin after a health check in Puerto Narino, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo\/Fernando Vergara)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PUERTO NARINO, Colombia (AP) \u2014 A flash of pink breaks the muddy surface of the Amazon River as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[33833,1147,1927,941,14271,1685,27459,12724,192,98300,793,3140,20200,79,18598,965,1529],"class_list":["post-161852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-amazon-river","tag-animals","tag-ap-top-news","tag-brazil","tag-central-america","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-colombia","tag-dolphins-and-porpoises","tag-environment","tag-fernando-trujillo","tag-general-news","tag-latin-america","tag-pollution","tag-science","tag-south-america","tag-world-news","tag-zoology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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