This will involve dredging sites across four main rivers of the Amazon basin, and the expansion of ports to facilitate ship navigation across the Amazon, Ucayali and Marañón rivers.īut the researchers say the Peruvian government has an opportunity to protect biodiversity. Additionally, the Amazon Waterway has been approved and is under contract for construction. The construction of dams, mainly in Brazil, is an expanding threat, with 175 dams operating or under construction in the Amazon basin, and at least 428 more planned over the next 30 years. "Bycatch has been known to be a threat to these dolphins for the last 30 years, but there's no real data on how many dolphins are caught per year." "Fishing can deplete populations of the dolphins' prey, and dolphins are also at risk from intentional killing and bycatch (accidental catching). Elizabeth Campbell, of the Center for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. "It's clear that the Amazon river dolphin is facing increasing threats from humans," said Dr. The paper, published in the journal Oryx, is entitled "Satellite-monitored movements of the Amazon River dolphin and considerations for their conservation." The research was carried out by the University of Exeter and Peruvian conservation organization Pro Delphinus.
While these are significant distances, the dolphins' ranges spanned over 50km on average, and dams and dredging can affect large stretches of river habitats.Īdditionally, many Amazon river dolphins-already an endangered species-live closer to the proposed sites than the seven males and one female tagged in this study. Dolphins were found to be an average of 252km from the nearest proposed dam and 125km from the nearest proposed dredging site. On average, 89% of the dolphins' home "range" (the area they live in) was used for fishing.
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