Amazon River Dolphins : Being Slaughtered For Bait

Rio De Janeiro (July 13) - The bright pink color gives them a striking appearance in the muddy jungle waters. That Amazon river dolphins are also gentle and curious makes them easy targets for nets and harpoons as they swim fearless up to fishing boats.
Now their carcasses are showing up in record numbers on the river banks, their flesh torn away for fishing bait, causes researchers to warn of a growing threat to a species that has already disappeared in other parts of the world. "The poppulation of the river dolphins will collapse if these fishermen are not stopped  from killing them," said Vera da Silva, the top aquatic mammals expert at the governments's Institute of Amazonian Research .
The dolphins are attractive to anglers for their fatty flesh  that is highly- effective bait for catching a type of catfish called pircatinga."This is most definitelya threat to the future of this river dolphin species, said Allison Wood, with the England-based  Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. "This is a relatively new threat, but clearly an extremely serious one. Migueis  said he warned Ibama and others authorities numerous times about the dolphin slaughter , but his reports fell on deaf ears.
Growing up to 8 feet (2.5 meters) long and weighing as  400 pounds (180 kilograms ), Amazon river dolphins are the largest  of four (4) species known to exist in Sourth America and Asia. Their genetic siblings have already died off elsewhere; The Yangzte river dolphin in China was declared functionally extinct in 2006, the victim of pollution, over fishing and increased boat traffic.
For centuries they have been revered by locals and protected by myth. According to one tale, the dolphins tranform into  handsome men and leave the water at nght, seducing and impregneting local women before returning to the  river. Many simply consider it bad luck to kill them, given their supposed magical attributes. But today, the quick payoff is trumping  legend and superstition.
"Killing the dolphins is a fast and easy way for the fishmen to make money. It costs nothing but time," Vera da Silva said." It's ugly because these dolphins have a folkloric value in the Amazon, and all that is disappearing for the sake of using them for bait.
My spin: What's happening to people, they have no regard for anything (man or beast). The scientists may be able to learn something from these beautiful creatures.  Meanwhile, the International Union of Conservetion of Nature lists the ganges river dolphin in India as endangered, and the Irrawaddy river dolphin in Bangladash as vulnerable.  Lets get moving folks, once  a species  is gone, that's it , so come on folks we have our work cut out for us....saving our planet from Global Warming and saving the endangered species....so join in the fight.
Kicking back and keeping it real