Pink River Dolphin Deadly 60 Bites

On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters.

Here's just one of my many favourites.

This is Deadly 60...

Bites!

Today, we're in the flooded forests of the Brazilian Amazon.

I've found a place where I can get closer than I've ever been before

to one of the weirdest creatures on the planet.

They look like a prehistoric river dinosaur,

but they're actually a dolphin and they're bright, luminous pink.

Oh, look at that! Look!

I don't believe it. Look-look, look-look!

They're so close.

This is actually one of the hardest animals in the world to film

in a completely natural setting.

I've spent months on the Amazon

and you see pink river dolphins popping up every now and again

and it's no more than a fin and then it's gone.

Already... We've been here for two minutes

and I've had better sightings of pink river dolphins

than I have in all the months on the Amazon put together.

This is going to be very, very special indeed.

Oh, wow!

That was quick.

Look at that!

Well, I think it's probably worth just slipping straight in.

'Just at the edge, it's shallow enough that I can stand up.'

Hello!

The water's like sort of, warm cola, here.

I should say straight off that these are totally wild dolphins. Whoa!

Ha-ha! Totally wild.

But the reason they're here is actually...

exactly the same reason why they're deadly.

These animals have huge brains, they're really intelligent.

And if there's a free meal on offer,

why waste time and energy on going out and hunting?

But as soon as I've finished feeding them they're going to be off

catching fish for themselves.

They're not biting me, despite the fact

that there's loads of them down here, there are loads.

And they're quarrelling over the fish,

but I haven't yet had any of those teeth... Oh, crikey!

You tell him.

Little fight there over the fish.

I haven't yet been nibbled. Touch wood.

Whoa!

OK, so we've seen that they eat fish,

but why am I considering putting

a bright pink dolphin on the Deadly 60?

Well, look at this.

When pink river dolphins hunt,

they take on a whole different personality.

Their first deadly ability is sonar,

just like a hunter-killer submarine.

By emitting clicks, they can form a picture underwater

and find fish trying to hide from them in the murky depths.

One on one, they have the power and speed to kill a single fish,

but when they club together, they can herd large schools of fish

using a riverbank to corner them.

If you're a fish being hunted by these guys,

there is nowhere to hide.

It's one thing feeding them from the boat,

but to really appreciate their power

I wanted to swim with them in the open river.

Delighted, James?

Ha! Ha-ha!

Amazing! He just decided he wanted Richard's boom pole, the sound man.

Look at it, he's going for it again.

I think he's decided that Richard's boom pole's food.

Drop it down a bit again. Again, Rich?

-I don't want to lose my boom!

-You won't lose it.

Hello.

Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha!

They're acrobatic, they're brainy and they're beautiful.

River dolphins are on the Deadly 60.

Yes, you are.

In many ways these pink predators

are the ultimate hunters

of the flooded forest.

Big-brained, team-trained,

sonar-hunting machines.

And that's precisely why

they're going on the Deadly 60.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]