Diving Deep
into murky
waters
memory sounds..
They come in pods.
Squeaking,
silvery pink skins
break river’s rippling surface
fins and beaks shining.
Beaded eyes
bore into mine.
Arcing bodies
cast circles
around the dugout
whistling goodbyes.
For a moment,
startling illumination –
And then
they are gone…
Sinking back again
into a massive
tangle of flooded roots
I ache to join that
Family
.
The Amazon river dolphin, pink dolphin, or boto only lives in fresh water in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. These dolphins are extremely intelligent and friendly displaying a complex set of behaviors. Skilled, sharp-toothed hunters, they often reach more than eight feet in length,and are well adapted to shifting river levels. During highwater periods they penetrate deep into the rainforest using echolocation to search murky pools amid submerged tree roots for prey including dozens of fish species, turtles and freshwater crabs. While I was on the Amazon I loved watching them swimming through the submerged and tangled tree roots. They often accompanied me while I was doing research. This extraordinary animal is currently threatened and facing possible extinction.
Over The Edge and Beyond: Journal of a Naturalist 