Montgomery - Journey of the Pink Dolphins An Amazon Quest

MORE PRAISE FOR Journey of the Pink Dolphins

I started to read this book at six in the morning and did not move out of my chair for the rest of the day. I did not lose a day; I gained a whole world. I invite you to share this extraordinary tale of magic beings who touch us in ways we can only begin to imagine.

JEFFREY MOUSSAIEFF MASSON, author of
TheEmperorsEmbrace and When Elephants Weep

Living on the edge of her senses, writing down what she knows to be true, Montgomery is a modern miracle: bawdy, brave, inventive, prophetic, hell-bent on loving this planet.... She numbs us with the searing beauty of the Amazon world and then numbs us again with proof of our own greed.

BETH KEPHART, Book magazine

The dolphins look you right in the eye, as does the author. Her dealings with all the denizens of the rain forest... are searching and personal.

The New Yorker

Surely one of the most brilliant books of our time.... Montgomery weaves zoology with myth, natural history with poetry, anthropology with the supernatural, and the result is perfection, a picture not only of animal life but also of human life in the Amazon Basin. Montgomery has found a new and very perceptive way to present the natural world.

ELIZABETH MARSHALL THOMAS

Here is Montgomery at her best, beckoning us to follow her in search of one of our planets most mysterious creatures, and introducing us to a wonderful cast of characters along the way.... No one is better than Sy at making you fall in love with nature all over again!

MARK PLOTKIN, ethnobotanist and author
of Tales of aShamansApprentice

Its a breathtaking book. This account of a naturalists experiences in the Amazon turns its own pages, drawing the reader deep into the world of pink river dolphins.... Exhilarating, vivid, and often horrifying, this is a serious report on the real and mythical life of an enchanting Amazon species and the sumptuous flooded rain forest.

KATY PAYNE, discoverer of the songs of
humpbacked whales and author of Silent Thunder

Sy Montgomery brings an adventurers daring, an artists sensibilities, and an ethicists wisdom to field biology. She also, luckily for us, writes beautifully.

SUE HUBBELL, author of A Country Year, Broadsides
from the Other Orders, and Waiting for Aphrodite

[Sy Montgomery] recounts her adventure and observations with the lyricism and penetrating insights of a poet as well as the logic and factual accuracy of a scientist.... Mesmerizing accounts of her daring feats are linked to hard-hitting disclosures of the cruel human history of this bewildering and beautiful realm, but Montgomerys most impressive accomplishment is her illumination of the overlay of story and science.

Booklist, starred review

Combining a journalists cool objectivity with a dolphin lovers almost mythical ecological consciousness, Montgomery luxuriates in the myths and legends... but also aptly reports the scientific facts.... Her rhapsodic book winsomely blends travel reportage, adventure and natural history.

Publishers Weekly

She weaves natural history, anthropology, myth and the supernatural in a riveting and often horrifying tale of plants, animals and humans whose lives are inexplicably tied to the river basin.... All told, its a very lyrical and literary paddle.

SUSAN DWORSKI, Escape

Part natural-history exploration, part travel memoir, the book looks to biologists, shamans and local storytellers to reveal a relationship between the dolphin and the river people that is sensuous and powerful.... There is Montgomery herself, a writer at the peak of her craft, who places no limits on her quest to fathom the magic and the science of this luminous river.

STEPHEN J. LYONS, New Age

Lyrical, erudite, and entertaining.... As if these creatures werent wonderful enough to read about, there are also intrepid lady explorers and scientists; handsome, knowing boatmen;... jungle ritual; and even [an] aqua- terrorist.

JUDITH STONE, Mirabella

Montgomery is a fine writer, at her best in describing the almost overwhelming beauty and variety of this richest of earths habitats.... [This book] will and should be widely read and argued over.

BILL MCKIBBEN, The Boston Globe

This book will claim you.... Heady stuff.... Her vivid descriptions of the Amazonian forest... make this a recommended choice for all natural library collections.

Library Journal

Montgomery recounts in vivid and imaginative prose the fascinating story of her quest to track and study these enigmatic creatures along thousands of miles of the Amazon River. One womans magical search into a watery world of wonder and mystery.

JUNE SAWYERS, Chicago Tribune

OTHER BOOKS BY SY MONTGOMERY

Walking with the Great Apes:
Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas

The Curious Naturalist:NaturesEveryday Mysteries

The Wild Out Your Window

Spell of the the Tiger: The Man-Eaters of Sundarbans

Search for the Golden Moon Bear:

Science and Adventure in Pursuit of a New Species

The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary

Life of Christopher Hogwood

FOR CHILDREN

The Snake Scientist

The Man-Eaters of Sundarbans

Encantado: Pink Dolphin of the Amazon

Search for the Golden Moon Bear:
Science and Adventure in the Asian Tropics

The Tarantula Scientist

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo

JOURNEY OF
THE PINK
DOLPHINS

AN AMAZON QUEST

SY MONTGOMERY

CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VERMONT

Copyright 2000, 2008 by Sy Montgomery
Introduction copyright 2008 by Sy Montgomery
Maps copyright 2000 by Libby Hubbell
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. To request permission to reproduce from this book, contact Chelsea Green Publishing.

Designed by Peter Holm, Sterling Hill Productions

Originally published by Touchstone (Simon & Schuster), 2001.
This edition published by Chelsea Green Publishing, 2008.
Printed in the United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 08 09 10 11 12

Tell Me a Story by Robert Penn Warren copyright 1998 by the Estate of Robert Penn Warren. Reprinted by permission of the William Morris Agency, LLC, on behalf of the Author.

Our Commitment to Green Publishing
Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using soy-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because we use recycled paper, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative (www.greenpressinitiative.org), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Journey of the Pink Dolphins was printed on 55-lb. Natures Natural, an FSC-certified, 30-percent postconsumer-waste recycled paper supplied by Thomson-Shore.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Simon & Schuster edition as follows: Montgomery, Sy.
Journey of the pink dolphins: an Amazon quest / Sy Montgomery.
p. cm.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60358-175-2
1. Inia geoffrensisAmazon River Region.
2. Amazon River RegionDescription and travel. I. Title.