Every afternoon, the dolphins I worked with quit their morning feeding and often spent hours "playing" with one another, often by grabbing floating seeds, wood and other debris.  These they often threw into the air repeatedly, as if a pickup game of water polo.  Scientists believe that this "play" has a more serious purpose, allowing males to show off their strength or prowess.

This photo has just been chosen as the winner in the Mammal Behavior category of the VEOLIA Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. 

 

Kevin's Amazon Dolphin coverage has also been awarded the "Fritz Polking Award 2009" by the GDT (German Wildlife Photography Society). See here for the announcement.

 

Nikon D300 camera, with Nikkor 70-200mm lens

Life, Color, Drama, Reality .... No Digital Manipulation

My story on Amazon River Dolphins has just appeared in the June 09 issue of National Geographic Magazine. To see a preview, click on the photo below.

 

 

 

As is so often the case, some of my favorite pictures didn't appear in the story : to see some of these, go to :  http://kevinschafer.com/dolphins.html