Sea Days - Amazon River

 Sea Date January 10 and 11, 2024

Today we entered Amazon.  It is a fascinating river system.  We have been attending lectures about the Amazon for the past week.  Let me share some of what I have learned:

It is not a quick delivery company of retail products.

Between 65 and 145 million years ago, the Amazon River flowed towards the Pacific Ocean, in the opposite direction it flows today.

The Amazon River has the largest volume of freshwater of any river in the world. The River releases around 200,000 liters of freshwater into the ocean every second. Together, this freshwater flow accounts for nearly 20% of all river water that enters the sea.

At about 4,000 miles long, the Amazon River is the second-longest river in the world. The Amazon's impressive length is exceeded by the 4,132 mile-long Nile River. Behind the Amazon, the next-longest river is the Yangtze River, which is only about 85 miles shorter than the Amazon.

The Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), also known as the pink river dolphin or boto, is one of just four species of "true" river dolphins.

The myth of the boto is that the dolphin is magical and can appear on land as a good looking man.  He wears a hat to cover his blowhole.  He seduces young women and they don't remember what happens exactly except it is magical.  Whenever a young unmarried girl is pregnant on the Amazon, she tells her family, "It must have been a boto!"

The dorado catfish (Brachyplatystome rousseauxii) is one of six species of "goliath" catfish found in the Amazon River. Like the capaz and mota catfishes, the goliath catfishes are commercially important species, with the dorado catfish being perhaps the most important of all of the Amazon's catfish. The dorado catfish can grow to be over six feet long and migrates over 7,200 miles to complete its life cycle.

10 million people who live on the banks of the Amazon River can only cross the freshwater flow by boat. The lack of bridges is due, in part, to the seasonal changes in the Amazon River bed. During the rainy season, the Amazon River can rise over 30 feet, tripling the width of the River in some places. The Amazon's soft river banks erode as with the seasonal inundation of rainwater, making previously sturdy areas into unstable floodplains. Any bridge to cross the Amazon River would need to be incredibly long to have sure footing. There are also few roads connecting to the Amazon River, with the Amazon River itself used for most people's transportation needs.

Monte Alegre State Park, located on the north bank of the Amazon in the Brazilian state of Pará, is home to one of the largest and oldest concentrations of rock art in the Amazon basin

The Amazon is amazingly brown.  Also, it is always raining somewhere so lots of rainbows to be seen.

Camila Andrade performed again.  HAL hosted a Brazilian New Year party on the Lido deck.  Traditionally, white attire is worn to celebrate the new year so we embraced the tradition.  The drums were pounding,  the singers were in grand voice, and, oh the dancers, their hips were amoving!

    

                                                        Cave paintings along the Amazon .

    

                                            Deforestation maps.

    

                                                      I attended a rapping with the rabbi event.

    

                                      The Kiss - a favorite cave painting prior to the sculpture - the Kiss.