Four Winds to Adventure : Sacred Dolphin
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This episode of the travel and science television series "Four Winds to Adventure", hosted by Dr. Frank Baxter, is entitled "Sacred Dolphin." It features Dr. Earl Herald of San Francisco's Steinhart Aquarium as he recounts a scientific expedition to collect sacred freshwater dolphins in the Amazon Basin. Earl Stannard Herald was a zoologist, ichthyologist and television presenter. In 1948, he became the director of the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, California, and from 1952 to 1966, he presented the popular science television programme Science in Action. Throughout his life, he studied a variety of aquatic organisms, especially pipefishes, and described many new taxa.
0:00 Main titles. Host Dr. Frank Baxter introduces Dr. Earl Herald, director of the Steinhart Aquarium and host of Science and Action, to discuss an expedition to capture the sacred freshwater dolphin of the Amazon Basin.
3:18 The expedition departs from Niagara Falls aboard a C-47 transport plane to Guyana, using a chartered seaplane to scout the Demerara River before flying inland past Kaieteur Falls to the Manari Ranch.
5:51 Dr. Herald and his team sample fish species from shrinking dry-season ponds, netting wolfish, silver dollar fish, red pacu, and various Amazonian catfishes alongside black piranhas.
9:08 Arriving at Manaus at the confluence of the Rio Negro and Solimoes River, the team resolves customs delays over their specialized 900-foot net and inspects local rubber trade operations.
10:38 The team boards the wood-burning steamer Lightera and travels up the Rio Negro to deploy the net in shallow waters, successfully capturing both short-snouted tukushi and long-nosed boto dolphins.
17:15 The team transports the captured dolphins in wet-sheeted holds and canoes back to Manaus, where the animals are administered tranquilizers and rested in a local swimming pool prior to air transport.
21:31 The dolphins arrive via air freight at the Niagara Falls Aquarium, where both species are introduced to a synthetic seawater facility for ongoing scientific study and sonar research.
23:30 In the studio, Dr. Earl Herald examines a dolphin skull to explain dental anatomy and blowhole structures, then shares footage of "Whiskers," a long-snouted boto dolphin housed at San Francisco's Steinhart Aquarium.
0:00 Main titles. Host Dr. Frank Baxter introduces Dr. Earl Herald, director of the Steinhart Aquarium and host of Science and Action, to discuss an expedition to capture the sacred freshwater dolphin of the Amazon Basin.
3:18 The expedition departs from Niagara Falls aboard a C-47 transport plane to Guyana, using a chartered seaplane to scout the Demerara River before flying inland past Kaieteur Falls to the Manari Ranch.
5:51 Dr. Herald and his team sample fish species from shrinking dry-season ponds, netting wolfish, silver dollar fish, red pacu, and various Amazonian catfishes alongside black piranhas.
9:08 Arriving at Manaus at the confluence of the Rio Negro and Solimoes River, the team resolves customs delays over their specialized 900-foot net and inspects local rubber trade operations.
10:38 The team boards the wood-burning steamer Lightera and travels up the Rio Negro to deploy the net in shallow waters, successfully capturing both short-snouted tukushi and long-nosed boto dolphins.
17:15 The team transports the captured dolphins in wet-sheeted holds and canoes back to Manaus, where the animals are administered tranquilizers and rested in a local swimming pool prior to air transport.
21:31 The dolphins arrive via air freight at the Niagara Falls Aquarium, where both species are introduced to a synthetic seawater facility for ongoing scientific study and sonar research.
23:30 In the studio, Dr. Earl Herald examines a dolphin skull to explain dental anatomy and blowhole structures, then shares footage of "Whiskers," a long-snouted boto dolphin housed at San Francisco's Steinhart Aquarium.
Source: YouTube · Record added 2026-10-12 13:03:15