Dark water

 Saturday, November 12, 2022

We moored overnight at the mouth of a dark water tributary to the Maranon; the interface between the dark water and the brown of the main river was quite sharp and after breakfast we went up to the top deck to get a better view. We heard a loud snorting, and then discovered that it was the sound of pink river dolphins surfacing to breathe. They were quite active — some raising flukes and snouts out of the water, others rolling around. Our naturalists explained that this was courtship behavior. It was hard to tear ourselves away to go on the morning skiff ride, but fortunately the dolphins were still there when we returned. There were a few gray river dolphins in the area as well.

The morning cruise up the dark water streams was quiet, with a bit of birdlife but no new species. Our luck with weather continued— a thunderstorm in the early afternoon cleared out in time for our scheduled activities. On an afternoon kayaking adventure we saw a troop of squirrel monkeys, and got to see them again on the afternoon skiff. We again saw a lot of kingfishers, including good views of all five species found in the upper Amazon. As the sun set, we watched herons, kingfishers and humans all catching armored catfish for supper.

Pictures: interface of Maranon and Yanayacu rivers, common squirrel monkey, Coico heron with armored catfish, pink river dolphins, three-toed sloth