Jan 25, 2010

Amazon River Dolphin

Should you ever find yourself rafting through the Amazon river basin and you come across a friendly, pink/gray, beaked face, don't be alarmed. You're looking into the curious mug of a freshwater cetecean, an animal known as the Amazon river dolphin, aka boto, aka Inia geoffrensis.

According to myth, the boto shapeshifts into a handsome young man known as an encantado, who seduces young women and impregnates them. That explains the dolphin's smirk.

Thanks for the boto, Jelo. I never thought I'd be able to post on a dolphin.

Photo source: BotswanaGallery.org

















15 comments:

Vern said...

Smug looking bastard. Look at him, damned dolphin might as well be smoking a cigarette too...

Sabina E. said...

strange looking thing!

Neil said...

If you believe the rumors, you might still want to be alarmed. Apparently they aren't too picky about the species they mate with, or the practicalities involved (number of partners, orifice involved etc.), which might explain that myth.

Unknown said...

Bizarre. That is a strange looking dolphin. He's almost cute!

flying eagle woman said...

OMG he's absolutely adorable...I would definitely kiss him on his long smug snout!!!!!

edi swarno said...

nice dolpin, and good blog

Harmony said...

I think he is hilarious. And the comment about mating with humans?? Have you ever noticed how some people resemble this little one? :)

Betsy said...

"That explains the dolphin's smirk."
Very nice.

My boys LOVE your blog, by the way. They're always quoting random UO facts to me.

Raging Wombat said...

I love to hear that, Betsy. I'm glad they're enjoying it.

san said...

cute!!!

The Shitty Astrologer said...

Awwwww....it's not ugly...it's totally cute!

Unknown said...

Hey Wombat, just found out you posted the boto pics I sent. I always thought these suckers were pretty gnarly lookin'. The ones I saw from the Discovery channel were colored pink, kinda like chewed up bubble gum. These are the only ones from the dolphin family that can move their heads from side to side. Very useful when navigating through submerged tree branches and whatnot. Notice the tiny, beady eyes. All but useless in murky, tea-colored water.

the ginabean said...

looks like the beak of Big Bird. except for the teeth. and the color.

Hidden aGenders said...

Flipper's blind ugly brother

stacey said...

This features in the BBC's "Last Chance to See" with Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry, revisiting all the endangered species from the book. I don't think this pink dolphin was in the book, but it probably would have been too sad to go visit the Yangtze dolphin, which is now probably extinct.