Parasites & Pink Dolphins

According to National Geographic...travelers to tropical South America are at risk for parasitic infections.  There are many different types of parasites and infection may occur in several ways:  by eating undercooked meats infected with parasites or their larva; by eating food or drinking water contaminated with parasites or their eggs; by contact with soil or water infected with parasites; or through insect bites.  Several types of parasites can penetrate intact skin and travelers are advised to wear shoes and avoid swimming, wading, or washing in fresh water.

Scary, right?

Well, what if I told you we had the opportunity to swim with PINK dolphins in the Amazon River?  Pink frickin' dolphins!  We had hoped to see a big ass Anaconda snake....but a pink dolphin?  We chatted with a family from Virginia about their excursion out to swim with the wild pink dolphins.  They had a great time.  No snakes.  No piranhas.  No caiman.  Parasites, maybe?  Sign us up!  We've got to have a picture of a pink dolphin for this blog!  Even if it kills us (of course, I'm letting Jenesa jump in first!).

A local naturalist attracts these dolphins using fish as bait.  These dolphins then swarm the area and crazy tourists like us pay to swim with them!  Pink dolphins do not have a dorsal fin like the gray dolphins, but a hump on their back (and also on their forehead).  The pink dolphins tail is bigger with 2 flippers that look like leaves.  They also have a long beak and tiny eyes.  Why are they pink?  A theory is that their capillaries are close to the surface of their skin and they have adapted to life in the fresh water river.

I took along my waterproof camera to capture the difference in color of the dolphin above and below the water.  Because of the acidic pH levels in the Rio Negro, the water gives off a type of orange glow below the surface.

Out of the water you can see a pale pink tint to the dolphins skin.

*** Jenesa's luggage still has not arrived.  She had to resort to wearing a pair of my boxer shorts for this dip in the river.  Her swimsuit is still in Miami?

Luggage score after Day 3 (Leonard = 1, Jenesa = still, 0)