Fernando Trujillo has devoted his life to studying and protecting the iconic river dolphins of Colombia's Amazon. The threats they face can shed light on the threats facing much of the wildlife here -- as well as humans.
May 9 at 1:03 p.m.PUERTO CARREÑO, Colombia — The scientists had traveled down the muddy Orinoco River for hours, their single-engine boat hemmed in by rocks the size of small mountains, when the lead biologist let out a shout.The 15 passengers swiveled their heads and the captain sped to the spot. It was a rare sight, an endangered species emblematic of the Colombian Amazon, considered sacred by the region’s Indigenous communities: the pink dolphins.
In the Amazon, river dolphins are the canaries in the coal mine — “the sentinels of the aquatic ecosystems,” said Jimena Valderrama, 27, a veterinarian who has worked with Trujillo for three years: “They accumulate what we dispose of in the rivers.” The Orinoco River, which divides Venezuela and Colombia in the Amazon, has been polluted by mining for gold and coltan in the Orinoco Mining Arc. The region has been designated for gold extraction by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro but is controlled largely by illegal armed groups. To extract the gold, miners often use mercury. The World Health Organization identifies mercury as one of 10 chemicals “of major public health concern.
Trujillo’s efforts to sound the alarm have at times put his own life in danger. His warning about high mercury levels in catfish on Colombian television in 2021 drew death threats. He took to wearing a bulletproof vest and engaging a bodyguard when traveling in the Amazon. Individual females don’t range as widely as males — they linger in locations where they can keep their food and offspring safe. It’s particularly important, Trujillo said, to identify and protect these areas: “If those places are deteriorated, the calves might not survive.”
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