April 4, 2014 – Aboard Regatta heading for the Mouth of the Amazon
Today is a day for relaxing. We started the morning with an Introduction to the Amazon. I won’t try to cover it all, but here are a few facts:
• The Amazon Basin is 2,700,000 square miles and contains 2.1 million miles of rain forest
• There are 390,000,000 trees divided in 16,000 species
• Half of the dust to fertilize the Basin comes from Africa – 50,000,000 tons per year
• It has the highest diversity of plant species on earth
• It is estimated there are 438,0000 species of known plants and there are more to be found
• 56% of the land in Brazil is covered in forest as opposed to the US which is 33%
• 1 in 10 of every species known are in the Amazon which is the largest diversity in the world
• There are 2,500,000 species of insects in the Amazon Basin
• There are 400,000 species of plants
• The are 427 species of mammals
• There 428 species of amphibians
• There are 378 species of reptiles
• There are 2,200 species of fish
• 1 in 5 bird species live in the Amazon rain forest
• 1 in 5 fish species live in the Amazon rain forest
• There are 128,843 species of invertebrates
• The Amazon is the 2d longest river in the world, 6,992 km while the Nile is 7,080 km
• The Amazon carries 60 times more water than the Nile
• 20% of all fresh water released into the oceans of the world comes from the Amazon
• 150 km from the mouth of the Amazon the Atlantic has low salinity and mud from the Amazon
• The last 1,500 km has only a 20 meter drop
• When flooded, it covers 3 times the area it does when not flooded
• The flooded areas are covered 7 months a year
• During the rainy season it is from 11-50 km wide – roughly 7-31 miles
• Francisco Orellana, a Spanish explorer, was the 1st to travel the entire length of the Amazon
• The most important ports are at Manaus, Brazil; Iquitos, Peru and Leticia, Columbia
• For 4 to 4.5 centuries the Amazon Basin was considered useless
• 1879-1912 and 1942-1945 was when the area was colonized because of rubber
• Vulcanization made the rubber exportable but synthetic rubber killed the trade
• Manaus was the 1st urbanized city in Brazil and 2d to have electricity
• Of the 483 mammals in Brazil, 324 live in the Amazon
• Of the 141 bats in Brazil, 125 live in the Amazon
• 1/3 of all insects live in the Amazon
• ½ of the known bird species live in the Amazon
• The Amazon is home to the biggest fresh water fish
• The Amazon is home to the smallest primate
• The Jau National Park, the largest tropical forest in the world (22,720 sq. km) has 3 employees
The good news in all this is that the rate of deforestation has fallen from double digits into the single digits, but it still far too high.
After the lecture, we attended the Crossing of the Equator Ceremony. The edict issued was as follows:
KING NEPTUNE, THE MASTER & RULER OF THE SEAS IS CALLING ALL POLLIWOGS WHO WISH TO BE INITIATED INTO THE SOCIETY OF SHELLBACKS TO APPEAR AT 11:00 AM ON THE POOL DECK. THE DAY OF THE TRANSFORMATION IS TODAY APRIL 4TH, IN THE YEAR 2014!
There were 4 crew members who had to kiss the fish and really got slimed. There must have been 50 or 60 passengers who participated. They had to kiss the fish, but instead of getting the slime poured over their heads by a ladle, they were painted on the face and arms with a paint brush. It was fun, and everyone had a good time.
I spent most of the rest of the day sleeping because I caught the cold which Patsy had. We had dinner with Guto in the Terrace, and I came back and went back to bed.
jnd