Delightful dolphins.

Byline: By KATE HODAL Environment write

AS stripteases go being de-robed by a pink dolphin in the middle of the Amazon beats even the most crazy of hen nights.

Instead of gyrating around a pole in a seedy nightclub, these 'botos', silvery-rose coloured river dolphins native to the Amazon basin, prefer to rub themselves up against swimmers and tourists, plunging their long snouts into bathing suits and nether regions.

With their little eyes winking mischievously and their many teeth set in a permanent grin, it's hard to be put off by their actions. But the botos are such sexual beings that Amazon natives warn young women of them coming to shore and turning into men in the middle of the night, impregnating virgins and slipping back into the water come early morning.

It might be a myth, but it hampers efforts to protect these dolphins, whose only predator is man.

Once considered one of the least threatened species of dolphin 20 years ago the boto has now made it on to the endangered list, says the International Society for the Preservation of the Tropical Rainforest, whose Preservation of the Amazonian River Dolphin project works to encourage their safety from hunters and chemicals being dumped in the river.

Their exact numbers are unknown - botos' habitats extend from Brazil into Peru, inclusive of the Amazon and Rio Negro rivers and their many tributaries - but the effect of their ultrasound and sonar capabilities on man is so profound that people like Igor Simoes, a physiotherapist who founded the Dolphin Therapy Centre on the Rio Ariau in 2005, have started to take note.

"Pink river dolphins have tiny eyes, so when they look at you essentially they're seeing you in the same way that an ultrasound sees a baby in a woman's womb," explains Simoes.

"The ultrasound localises any problem you might have - leukaemia, depression or psycho-motoring difficulties - and works to re-balance the imbalances in your body and brain by generating endorphins that improve the functioning of glands, the secretion of hormones and blood flow."

Although the data is still unclear, researchers at the Aqua Thought Foundation, a dolphin therapy research group, estimate that the boto's brain - 40% larger than man's - emits ultrasounds that work to increase the neurotransmitters in man, activating dormant areas of the brain to unlock trauma, raise self esteem and rejig the immune system up to two to 10 times faster than without the therapy.

As a result, pink river dolphins, which weigh about 90kg and are around 9ft long, have been targeted to help patients with Down's syndrome, physical or emotional trauma and cancer - the latter in conjunction with chemotherapy.

"When my patients swim with the botos they get more interactive and playful," Simoes says.

CAPTION(S):

DOLPHIN THERAPY: The ultrasound and sonar capabilities on man of boto dolphins is profound