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
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15 comments:
Smug looking bastard. Look at him, damned dolphin might as well be smoking a cigarette too...
strange looking thing!
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.
Bizarre. That is a strange looking dolphin. He's almost cute!
OMG he's absolutely adorable...I would definitely kiss him on his long smug snout!!!!!
nice dolpin, and good blog
I think he is hilarious. And the comment about mating with humans?? Have you ever noticed how some people resemble this little one? :)
"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.
I love to hear that, Betsy. I'm glad they're enjoying it.
cute!!!
Awwwww....it's not ugly...it's totally cute!
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.
looks like the beak of Big Bird. except for the teeth. and the color.
Flipper's blind ugly brother
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.
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