Dolphins and manatees.

Dolphins and manatee are aquatic mammals; there are two species of freshwater dolphins and one manatee species in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. The largest and most widespread of the two dolphin species is the pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis). Depending of the region, the animal is known by several common names. In Spanish-speaking areas is usually called bufeo o tonina, while in Portuguese Brazil it is known as boto. 

All dolphins, along with the whales, are mammals in the order Cetacea. Dolphins belong to the Odontoceti, the toothed whales. Pink river dolphins hunt for fish and other aquatic animals (turtles, crabs) in muddy waters of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, and they readily forage among the trees of flooded forest. Unlike the majority of dolphins, pink dolphins, have a flexible neck, they are nearly blind but have an effective sonar, permitting them to navigate among the dense trunks of the forest. There is a legend with the pink dolphin, for example, if a young woman is pregnant and the father is unknown, the baby is attributed to the dolphin.

The second species is Sotalia fluviatilis, the Tucuxi or gray dolphin; Tucuxis are smaller than pink dolphins and have a shorter snout, a much less bulbous head, and a more distinctive triangular dorsal fin. They tend to show much more of the head when they surface than pink dolphin. In general, Tucuxis are easier to see well as they often leap from the water and tend to be found in larger groups than pink dolphins.

The Amazonian manatee; (Trichechus inunguis). Manatees are mammalian order Sirenia and there only four species on the Earth. The Amazonian manatee can weigh up to 500 kg. It’s is hard to confuse the manatee with another animal. They have smallish, puffy-looking heads adorned with a wide, blunt snout and short whiskers. Their eyes are small but they will have a look around when they surface to breed. Manatees are vegetarians feeding in quiet waters that host an abundance or water lettuce or water hyacinth.