Botos and Amazonian Dolphin Folklore

Sorry for the long absence.. Unfortunately, many things can get in the way of blogging, as I have deftly stumbled upon ;). Getting to the post...
Brownie points for the person who can find something more AWESOME than a pink dolphin! It's true, though. Deep in the lush jungles of the Amazon... In the Amazon River.. Lie these dolphins that are straight out bubblegum pink! These Amazon River dolphins, or Botos, don't start out pink, though. It's sort of like a sun tan of sorts. These dolphins are, unfortunately, endangered due to pollution, overfishing, and water trafficking. It's a shame, considering how important they are in Amazonian folklore and mythology.
In mythology, there was this "young man" who would enchant a LOT of young women in the night, but become a dolphin again by day. The locals also believe that it is bad luck to kill these dolphins. In fact, it was thought that the Dolphins were the guardians of the Amazonian Manatee. If you want to see a manatee, you basically have to get on the dolphin's good side first. I only wish that American dolphin folklore was so rich.. Sigh.. :P

A picture of the Pink Dolphin:(URL http://csiwhalesalive.org/IgOmachaSandalo.jpg)
--Snoops
PS This dolphin is not to be confused with the very popular albino bottlenose dolphin calf, Pinky. More on Pinky in the next post!