On Thursday, May 7th, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC) will offer a presentation titled, “Using underwater sound to learn about the elusive Pink Dolphins of the Peruvian Amazon.” The lecture, given by Dave and Dottie Bonnett, from Silverdale, WA, will be at the Natural History Exhibit in Fort Worden State Park and will begin at 6 p.m. Admission is $7 at the door and $5 for PTMSC members.
“We’re pleased to welcome the Bonnetts to the PTMSC and to hear about the exciting research they’re doing in the Amazon jungle,” said Anne Murphy, executive director for the PTMSC. “We look forward to learning how Amazon Pink River Dolphins are impacted by ecosystem changes and seeing a demonstration of the techniques used to analyze the dolphins’ underwater sounds. It will be interesting to see how this correlates with what researchers are learning about Orcas here in the Salish Sea.”
The Bonnetts, who live in Silverdale, WA, have traveled extensively on the Upper Amazon River and its tributaries to visit the various humanitarian and conservation projects they help support. In 2007 and 2008, they traveled on a unique river boat to the remote Peruvian Amazon flooded jungle to collect underwater sound records of the Amazon Pink River Dolphin, Inia geoffrensis, a threatened species.
David and Dottie Bonnett moved to their 28 acre farm between Silverdale and Poulsbo in 1977. While keeping their farm as home base, they have worked and lived in Australia and Egypt and traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and South America. Dottie has a BS degree in Marine Biology from The University of Miami and Masters in Zoology from Miami University. Dave has a BS in Chemistry from Miami University. They will travel back to the Amazon in June when more dolphin recordings will be collected.
