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The Amazonas river is one of the two largest rivers on earth (being the Nile the other one) and it has by far the greatest total flow of any river, carrying approximately 56 times as much as the Nile. The quantity of fresh water released to the Atlantic Ocean is enormous: 6.5 million cubic feet per second in the rainy season. Indeed, the Amazon is responsible for a fifth of the total volume of fresh water entering the oceans worldwide. It is said that offshore of the mouth of the Amazon potable water can be drawn from the ocean while still out of sight of the coastline, and the salinity of the ocean is notably lower a hundred miles out to sea. The main river (which can be twenty-five miles wide in flood) is navigable for ocean steamers as far as Iquitos, 2300 miles (3,700 km) from the sea, and 486 miles (780 km) higher up for smaller vessels, as far as Achual Point.
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| Sunset at the Amazon | ||||
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Colombia has more birds than any other country in the world. Many of them are in the Amazonas. | |||
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The Amazon river dolphins or botos are born grey and become pinker with age They have a long powerful beak, small eyes and are slow swimmers. When excited, they will flush to a bright pink temporarily. They are unique among dolphins for having molar-like teeth and can chew their prey. Also another uniqueness is they have small hairs on their rostrum which remain throughout their life. Another interesting habit is they rest on the bottom of the river.They are quite solitary animals, and are found in the main rivers of the amazon and orinoco river systems of tropical South America. They inhabit muddy stagnant water, and during flooding will move onto the flooded forests leaving them at risk of stranding. They are however extremely flexible so they can weave through the obstacles of trees as they search for their prey. They are a completely freshwater species, never venturing into salt water. Their habitat is threatened by pollution, damming, boat traffic, and by man through directly killing them for food or sport or destruction of their habitat. |
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