Today we saw a Harpy Eagle. We didn’t know what it was until the lecture this evening. We also found out that Bull Sharks hunt up this river. The sharks have adapted to swimming and feeding in fresh water. There are many fish here who were originally in the Pacific Ocean, yes Pacific not Atlantic. Forever ago, when South America was flat, the Pacific covered part of it. As the Andes grew (from techtonics) the Pacific was cut off and a huge salt water lake was formed. Over the millenium, as rains fell, and that is a lot here, the lake changed from salt to fresh and since it did not happen overnight, the animals adapted. So there are electric eels, sharks and 2 kinds of dolphin in the fresh water Amazon.
Also, we learned, most types of piranha, and there are about 30, are vegetarians. The movies lie about them eating you right down to the bone. Doesn’t happen. They have to be very hungry to even think about people and then mostly when you are already bleeding. So, there….
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