“River Pailas is obstructed and has trapped some dolphins” denounced a Brazilian called Ismael Freire in early June, owner of the Seis Irmãos farm, in the township of São Pedro, some 360 km to the north of Santa Cruz, in Bolivia.

According to information from the rescue teams, there were nine Bolivian freshwater dolphins (Inia boliviensis) caught in River Pailas, a tributary of Grande River, consisting of one young female, six adults and two offspring that were seeking calmer waters to procreate. However, due to sedimentation and the low volume of water — possibly caused by deforesting and other human activities in the region — normal river exits towards Grande River were unavailable to the despairing dolphins.

Sediments dragged in by River Pailas created a 300-meter wide and almost a 3-meter high dam, explained Mariana Escobar, a specialist from Noel Kempff Mercado Natural History Museum (MHNNKM). For her, “this is an example of what can happen to a freshwater species of dolphins which were in a preserved area but that are impacted by human interventions in their habitat”.

Soon after the warning call, a rescue plan was devised to succor these nine (up to this moment) dolphins. Notwithstanding national governmental interest and from national and international environmentalists as well, the task was delayed due to political conditions, floods in the region, the cold weather and sheer lack of resources.

By mid August, the rescue plan was ready and implemented with the cooperation of several institutions, counting on the help received by 60 people among vets, biologists, rescue teams, university students, environmentalists, authorities and volunteers.

The rescue

The rescue plan was directed by Mariana Escobar of MHNNKM, that together with other institutions, coordinated the reconnaissance of the zone in order to trace possible evacuation routes from River Pailas up to a region of Grande River where the dolphins would enjoy better conditions. According to her, the trips to explore the rescue zone served to ascertain the serious threats faced by this species in that area, as they suffer the effects of severe deforesting in the basin, the spill of pesticides and overfishing (...)”. She is in favor of urgent actions to protect those areas of the basin that are still in good condition.
 
On August 19, the teams entered the zone to carry out the rescue of the dolphins but early on they noticed that the preestablished route was impassable due to the quantity of aquatic plants (Eichhornia crassipes) present. These plants made crossing impossible and forced the team to seek another route which ended up being almost as difficult, demanding the use of a tractor to tow the vehicles stalled in the mud and sludge.

The task was then divided into 4 stages: the capturing of the dolphins in River Pailas; transporting them to Port B; further transportation for another 2 kilometers to Grande River; get them to Piranha Port on inflatable boats to release them in Grande River.

FUNSAR volunteers were responsible for the “physical” aspects of the rescue as can be seen from the statement offered by Runny Callaú, in charge of the institution: “We had to prepare the motorboats, locate the vehicles, open up jungle paths, build a platform, enable ports and move personnel”.

In the first attempts at capture, they managed to pickup two young dolphins, weighing approximately 55 kg each, when one of them injured itself on the fin and tail in its struggle against the fishnet. With vet and volunteer help they managed to stop the bleeding. To remove the animals from the water and into the vehicles, these last were padded with camping mattresses, wet towels to maintain moisture and tarpaulins for roofing.

The tough undertaking to rescue these dolphins was concluded on August 29 with much better results than previously anticipated: not just those 9 dolphins but 20 in all were rescued, while 4 still remained trapped in the dam due to a lack of resources to continue the rescue. However, the rescue teams and volunteers have promised to return.