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When you rescue a river dolphin from a situation he cannot get out of himself (like when trapped in a pool that is disconnected from the main river), he cooperates with his rescuer, trying to help you to help him.
Climate change in itself does not need to be a problem per se; rivers and river species are used to dynamic situations and can adapt, Willems explained. Natural, healthy river systems are resilient, and so are the species living there. But the systems cannot adapt when they have been altered too much. River dolphins can live in water until 38 Celsius [100.4 Farenheit]. But what we saw last month in the Brazilian Amazon, where Tefe lake was heated until 41 Celsius [105.8 Farenheit], is beyond their adaptation potential.
Willems added, Climate change worsens all the mentioned negative effects from human interventions.
If river dolphins are ultimately lost to the world due to climate change and other human-driven factors, Earth will lose one of its most intelligent and unique species. Willems, for example, shared a story about how she observed a male river dolphin put on a sophisticated dance for the entertainment of a female river dolphin.
River dolphins are very social animals, and they love to play. I once witnessed a dolphin that tried to impress a female dolphin; an impressive smashing of water, almost dancing, Willems described. They go as far as using instruments : tree branches functioning like sticks. We have footage of two dolphins playing together with one anaconda they clearly enjoy themselves (as you can see by the very pink skin at that moment, showing their excitement).
Willems also described how river dolphins show intelligence when trying to extricate themselves from situations that less intelligent animals might find overwhelming.
When you capture a dolphin to get it a satellite tag in its dorsal fin (to follow migrations movements, to learn and be able to better protect the species), he understandably resists, Willems told Salon. But when you rescue a river dolphin from a situation he cannot get out of himself (like when trapped in a pool that is disconnected from the main river), he cooperates with his rescuer, trying to help you to help him.
The dolphin expert stressed that river dolphins are so intelligent, they actually have easily distinguishable personalities.
Dolphins are individual characters; some stay around at the same place all their life, with daily routines, Willems explained. They recognize the boats that pass, some local community people told us they recognize individual people. Other dolphins migrate and explore, travel until 100s of kilometers.
They also communicate with each other using complex combinations of echolocation clicks that gives them a super-power, Willems said, because these click sounds are very directional so a river dolphin next to me could be telling you some tale without the dolphin behind me having a clue. Just three years ago, we saw for the first time the extraordinary vocal repertoire of the Boto, the Amazon River dolphin they are using up to 2000 ultrasonic clicks per second in complex patterns that clearly represent many distinct words.
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