6 Fun Facts About the Pink Dolphin

Learn six facts that will surprise you about the Amazon River dolphin, also known as the pink dolphin or boto.

1. The pink dolphin is very intelligent

Botos are by far the most intelligent river dolphins. They may even be smarter than humans: their brain capacity is 40% greater than ours.

2. The pink dolphin uses sound to see

The murky waters of the Amazon and poor eyesight would make any swimmer get lost. But the boto is smarter (obviously it is, see point 1). They use sound to recognize objects and other animals deep in the river, and thus swim and eat without any problem.

3. The male pink dolphin shows off to get a mate

Male botos are athletes and casanovas: they jump completely out of the water, spin and do pirouettes in the air to attract the attention of females.

4. The pink dolphin is sentient with high empathy

Pink dolphins are sentient beings; this means that they have the ability to feel a variety of emotions and feelings, such as pleasure, pain, joy and fear. In addition to being very friendly and noble, there are many stories in the Amazon of botos that saved people from drowning, taking them to the shore.

5. The pink dolphin is the largest population of river dolphins

Hunting, pollution and other factors almost wiped out other populations of river dolphins in other parts of the world. So the Amazon botos are the largest population in existence.

The boto's habitat extends across the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Venezuela.

6. The pink dolphin is threatened

River dolphins are among the most endangered species of all cetaceans in the world. Although the boto is currently the largest population of river dolphins in the world, it is classified as an endangered species.