The third challenge is to create specific methodological procedures, since this is an unprecedented study and without previous literature to ‘teach you the ropes’. The researchers will need to momentarily cover this hole with a cylindrical container to collect the droplets exhaled at the time of breathing. In river dolphins, breathing occurs through the spiracle, a small hole in the head of the animal that has a function similar to that of the nose. Second, because scientists will need to examine the animals' spray, that is, their breathing. First, because river dolphins are restless beings and taking them out of the water for blood testing will not be an easy task. Layane evaluates the operation as ambitious. It will be a thorough health study, important for the preservation of the species', she says. As the animals are in direct context of interaction with humans, we are going to check the issues of water quality and also of pathogens in the intestines, blood and breathing tract of the animals. We believe that we are going to observe influences depending on more or less visitations. 'There are well-grounded researches about whales, but not yet about river dolphins.

The project will also analyze diseases and pathogen risks, as there are doubts about how well the animals' health is ensured during interactions with humans, considering both humans and river dolphins may transmit diseases to each other. The study will last 36 months and is currently in the stage of testing and standardization of protocols and methodologies. 'They have a very large vocal repertoire, an indication that there is a very diverse social complexity, with a lot of intelligence, similar to those of the orcas', she points out. The goal is to check their stress levels, whether there are periods of the day or month when they are likely to be more agitated and what is the relationship between this stress and the sounds they produce, and what each sound signal may represent. Now, Layane is developing a doctorate research focused on the health of the species.Īccording to the researcher, her main scientific interest is the hormonal profile of river dolphins, to analyze their metabolic processes. She has also witnessed the intensification of tourism in Mocajuba promoted by them. Researcher Layane Maia started her investigation with river dolphins in 2015 and has closely followed the growing interest in the animals. These mammals inhabit the region of the lower Tocantins River, produce 237 different sounds to communicate and are the third species of river dolphins cataloged in the Amazon. One species which stands as protagonist of the investigation is the Araguaian river dolphin – a cetacean recently described in 2014. Beloved in the popular imagination of the Amazon people, river dolphins will be object of a study at the Federal Rural University of the Amazon (Ufra) that seeks to better understand the organism of river dolphins and the impact of the interactions with humans on the health of these aquatic mammals in the municipalities of Mocajuba and Cametá in Pará.

River dolphin sounds