I is for Indus River Dolphin

Okay, I'm a little late with "I." But in my defense, I'm now only three thousand words away from finishing my novella in time for the Nocturne Cravings pitch. Yay for having GOOD excuses!

The dolphin has always been my favorite animal, but as a kid, I was terrified by the thought of having dolphins in rivers. Dolphins are meant to be in the ocean, viewed from afar, not swimming underneath fishing boats! (Did I ever think I'd move to a state where manatees and alligators would swim right up to a kayak? No, I really didn't.)

Even as a kid, though, seeing dolphins in aquariums depressed me terribly. Such large, beautiful creatures meant to swim freely confined to a glorified bathtub.

Vegan bleeding-heart rant over.

The Indus River Dolphin is one of the rarest mammals on earth, and is the second most endangered fresh water dolphin. Like most river dolphins, this guy has to swim on his side, because he can maneuver through water less than one foot deep! Imagine being 1.5-2.5 meters long and having to swim through water up to a sixth of your length deep to hunt for fish. Easy? I think not. I'm hypothesizing here, but I can see river irrigation being a major cause of habitat destruction for this guy, not to mention hunting.