Mighty Waters Week: Day#6

Greetings,

So we are nearing the end of Mighty Waters Week but before it ends we felt that there is one river that we just have to mention or it just wouldn't be right. It is none other than the Amazon River. So firstly we thought we would share with you the top ten ranked rivers by how much water they can carry: 

1. Amazon
2. Congo
3. Orniaco
4. Yangtze
5. Parana
6. Brahmaptura
7. Yellow
8. Yenisei
9. Ganges
10. Missisipi

The River Nile is by far the longest it is actually one massive tributary, a tributary is a river or a stream that flows into a larger river or lake. The Blue Nile rises in the Ethipian Highlands the Nile is only formed when the White Nile then joins the Blue Nile, it is then emptied into the Mediteranean. Whereas the Ganges and the Brahmaptura arise from the Himalayas (worlds highest mountain range) and then join to form the river Padma, once joined it then exits in to the Bay of Bengal to form the largest delta.

 Now to look into the Amazon River.

This magnificent river is considered to be the Queen of all rivers and how couldn't it be, it carries with it a fifth of the worlds flowing freshwater, meaning that the Amazon river carries the exact amount of water than the next ten biggest rivers combined!! The amazon is the main drainage pipe of South america, it drains a third of South America and it does this through its large river basin. The Amazon tranports billions of sediment ever year, this is visible from space in the form of a brown stain leaking in to the sea. It is a tough location to thrive in with its radical seasonal changes all year round, when it is the dry season the river has a width of 4-5km whereas in a wet season it can dramatically increase to a width of 50km. The Amazon river play a major role in maintaining the ecology of the basin and supporting its habitats (swamps, marshes and streams). 

Within this River are some of the richest waters to date with 3,000 species of fish found already that is already more than the Atlantic Ocean, and thats not all scientists believe that the number could rise to 5,000. The Amazon is an amazing area but life can be challenging with its murky waters at low depths, despite that limiting factor fish have adapted to communicate through electricity, they do this through altering the properties of the electric field around them. One such creature is the electric eel that can deliver a shock of 400v- enough to render a human unconcious. The river is also home to monsrtous fish such as the pirarucu or arapaima which are the largest fish in South America  at a length of 25m. Other habitants include the freshwater dolphins, otter, and the river turtle along with the 6m long green anacondas.

This is the pirarucu, and not even the biggest one!

The pink river dolphin, known locally as the boto can weigh up to 100kg and grow to more than 2.5m. Like other dolphins these river dolphin are highly sociable living in groups of up to 20 individuals. in the breeding season these socials turn to more vicious encounters,  competition to find a female is fierce and male dolphins often come of from a fight with serious bites inflicted. That being said it isn't all brute force the males also put on a show for the ladies, they rise out of the surface with rocks in their jaw it is thought they do this to show the female their strength and dexterity.

For these dolphins life couldn't be better they have a consistent supply of food from the migratory fish routes including shoals of the dorado catfish. The Amazon Queen is also home to the tucuxi which are known locally as a river dolphin. The Tucuxi and the Boto are unique in that they are the only freshwater dolphins that are not critically endangered. 

Just to celebrate the rich diversity of life the amazon supports here are some pictures for you!

That concludes our post for today, hope you found it as awesome to read as it was for us to do the research for it!! Make sure to come back tomorrow for our final post!

BioBunch. 
Over and out.