Written By: Jim Jayes
On Date: 24/3/2010
Plan to rescue a pair of stranded Amazon pink river dolphins.
Jim Jayes from White Water Active, Llangollen’s canoeing and rafting center are planning to rescue stranded Dolphins from the Amazon basin. They currently live in a heavily deforested and polluted areas of the Amazon where fish have been killed, leaving the dolphins to slowly starve. White Water Active are planning to bring a breeding couple back to Llangollen to live in the River Dee . Jim Jayes first came to hear about these intelligent animals after hearing reports of pink dolphins pushing people to the shore after their canoes had capsized. Jim said “the Dee would provide the perfect habitat for these fresh water mammals. There is a ample supply of both salmon and trout as well as grayling to provide a food supply. They normally eat up to twenty kilo of fish a day and it estimated that the Dee can adequately supply this for each animal. The presence of the dolphin in the Dee around Llangollen will provide a incredible tourist attraction to Llangollen. It is hoped that they will breed and become a indigenous species of the Dee and maybe even spread to river throughout the UK. We will soon release more details of our rescue plans early next month”.
We are looking for funding ideas to raise the money to bring them to Wales. If anybody can help or has ideas please contact Jim via White water Active’s Face Book.
The Amazon river dolphin is a freshwater river dolphin endemic to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. The largest of the river dolphins, this species is not to be confused with the Tucuxi (Sotalia fluviatilis), whose range overlaps that of the Amazon River Dolphin but is not a true river dolphin. Because they are unfused, the neck vertebrae of the Amazon river dolphin are able to turn 180 degrees. The pink dolphin lives in the freshwater of the Amazon River. This species looks like the grey dolphin, but individuals are bigger, and instead of a dorsal fin they have a hump on their back. Their tails are also bigger. The pink dolphin has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of the Nature due to pollution, over fishing, excessive boat trafficking and habitat loss. The brain of the river dolphin is 40% larger than a human brain.
For more details on the Pink freshwater dolphin. http://www.isptr-pard.org/dolphin.html
White Water Active of Llangollen