Page 71 - AlertDiver_Spring2013
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behind our boat until Juca, our guide, finally spotted a large
24-foot female along the water’s edge. We eagerly assembled
our scuba gear as Juca gently coaxed the behemoth into the
water. The snakes are big enough on land and terrifyingly
enormous underwater. Education always trumps ignorance,
though, and there are no recorded instances of anacondas
attacking humans. We were still respectful, of course, and she
cautiously accepted our presence. Her head — which was the
size of my dome — was at times mere inches from my face. It
was an experience of graceful beauty, culminating in the snake
deftly maneuvering her large body up the embankment and
back into the recesses of the marshy saw grass.
We spent our last days visiting the panoramic Buraco das
Araras, a colossal red-rock sinkhole 400 feet deep and more
than a quarter mile across. Known as a doline (a collapsed
cave), the site is a popular nesting place for hundreds of
scarlet macaws, parrots and ibises.
he days and weeks seemed to melt into
one single, circular experience. Each of
us came away with something special,
including photographs and artistic
inspiration. One member of our group,
Melissa, produced a giant mosaic of a
green anaconda. Though we longed for the
road to continue and the river to wind farther along, it was
now time to say tchau. I was sad about having to leave with
so much left to explore. May I never see it all.
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From left: Like members of a street gang, rare and endangered giant river otters are both highly
social and aggressive, capable of defending their territory against anything, including jaguars.
The Pantanal is the Jaguar’s largest remaining territory on Earth. Tourism by river boat may be the
saving grace for the future of this cat, whose habitat continues to shrink throughout South America.
F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N
Learn more, and join the effort to save the pink river dolphin.
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of-the-amazon-pink-river-dolphin/?cid=FB_TAF_CIT
