Dolphins are one of the most loved marine animals, though most people only get to see the species that live in the ocean. For Valentine’s Day, we decided to do a little research on one of the most unique species: the Amazon pink river dolphin. There’s a lot to love! And if you’d like to make the ocean your Valentine this year, check out Project AWARE® to let them know how deep your love of the ocean is. By donating or sharing photos, you can help protect this dolphin and all the other wonderful marine life on our planet.

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• The  Amazon River dolphin is famous for its pink color, but many don’t know that it comes in a large number of shades.
• Pink dolphins are not the same dolphins that you would see in the ocean; they have special adaptations to their habitat. In fact, river dolphins are only distantly related to sea dolphins.
• Amazon pink dolphins are considered the most intelligent of them, with a brain capacity 40% larger than that of humans.
• Though they live in occasionally dark water and have sub-par eyesight, dolphins still need to interact with other animals and their environment. Saltwater and freshwater dolphins both use sonars and clicks to communicate, but their environment makes them use this skill in different ways.
•  The Pink dolphin, has great eyesight and excellent hearing.
• The Amazon River dolphin is between six and eight feet long, and weighs between 185 and 355 pounds when it is fully grown.
• Pink dolphins can be found in pink, light gray or brown colors but there is not conclusive evidence of the reason why pink dolphins are pink.
• The Amazon River pink dolphins conform the largest population of river dolphins in existence as the other four species are functionally extinct or close to extinction.
• The raise in contaminant levels of mercury have caused and increased number of deaths among pink dolphins, especially near gold mines where mercury is used as part of the gold mining process.
• Pink dolphins eat crabs, catfish, small river fish and even small turtles.
• The pink dolphin species was first described by the French zoologist, Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville, in 1817.
• Owing to its unique neck vertebrae, the pink dolphin has the ability to turn a whole 180 degrees with immense ease.
• Unlike the other dolphin species which have a dorsal fin, the pink dolphin has a hump on its back.
• The increase of traffic in the Amazon River, also threatens these creatures as they are curious by nature and they sometime approach to vessels where they are easily hurt by the sharp propellers.
• The Pink dolphin, is able to move its neck unlike other dolphin species that have a fused vertebrae. The Amazon River Dolphin is able to look side to side and up and down.
• Among the five species of river dolphins, Amazon pink dolphins are considered the most intelligent of them, with a brain capacity 40% larger than that of humans.
• The Pink dolphin, has stiff hairs on its beak; the hairs are a sensory organ that help the Amazon River Dolphin sense prey in the muddy river bottoms.
• The Pink Dolphin is one that is known specifically because of where it dwells. This species is found in the Amazon River and the Orinoco River in South America.

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