What Is the Amazon River Dolphin?
The boto (Inia geoffrensis) — also called the Amazon river dolphin, pink river dolphin, or bufeo — is the world's largest freshwater dolphin, reaching up to 2.5m in length and 185kg. Adult males turn progressively pink as they age, the colouration intensifying with sun exposure and activity — a large adult male at peak colour is a striking bubble-gum pink, an unlikely sight in the brown water of an Amazonian river. The boto has a unique anatomy among cetaceans: an unfused cervical vertebrae giving it the ability to turn its head 180 degrees, adapted pectoral fins for manoeuvring through flooded forests, and a brain capacity 40% larger than a bottlenose dolphin's. Unlike marine dolphins, botos are primarily solitary and do not perform acrobatics, but their curiosity about boats and divers makes close encounters remarkably common.
Where to See Pink Dolphins in the Amazon
Botos are found throughout the Amazon and Orinoco river systems — from the Peruvian and Colombian Amazon through Brazil to Venezuela. Three gateway cities give the best access. Iquitos (Peru): the world's largest city inaccessible by road, sitting on the Amazon's banks — river tours from Iquitos encounter botos regularly in the main river and in the flooded oxbow lakes (cochas) that extend into the surrounding Amazon Rainforest. Manaus (Brazil): the Meeting of the Waters (where the black Rio Negro meets the Amazon proper) is one of the most reliable boto spotting sites in Brazil — the dolphins congregate at the convergence of the two rivers. Leticia (Colombia): the tripoint where Colombia, Brazil, and Peru meet at the Amazon — another reliable boto location with excellent jungle lodge options in the surrounding reserve.
Amazon River Dolphin Tour Peru: Iquitos
From Iquitos, river tour operators run morning and afternoon excursions specifically targeting botos and grey dolphins (tucuxi — a smaller, more conventionally dolphin-like species that shares the Amazon). The Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, 1–2 hours upstream from Iquitos, has one of the highest boto densities in Peru — a combination of oxbow lakes and protected waters that concentrates both species. The pink dolphins are most active in the early morning when they surface frequently and feed at the oxbow lake edges. A good guide who knows the cocha locations will find them reliably. Cost: $30–50 for a half-day river tour, or included in a jungle lodge package.
See Pink Dolphins in Iquitos: The Flooded Forest
The boto's flooded forest habitat is best experienced in the wet season (December–May) when the Amazon rises 10–15 metres and the surrounding jungle becomes a water world. Boto tour operators use small motorised boats to navigate between the trees, where pink dolphins weave through submerged trunks and can be observed at very close range. The contrast between the dolphins' pink skin and the brown water, filtered through the jungle canopy, is visually extraordinary. In the dry season, the dolphins concentrate in the main river channels and are visible but less dramatically positioned.
Conservation Status
The boto is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The primary threats are fishing net entanglement, mercury pollution from illegal gold mining in the upper Amazon watershed, deliberate killing (botos are sometimes killed by fishermen who view them as competitors), and the use of boto body parts as bait for the mota (a Amazonian catfish) fishery. The boto's conservation is inseparable from the conservation of the Amazon river system as a whole. Several NGOs work specifically on boto research and conservation — the Instituto Boto Cor-de-Rosa in Brazil is the most established.
