Irrawaddy freshwater dolphins

We took the bus to Klampi, a small village north of Kratie, to watch the Irrawaddy freshwater dolphins. Unlike the more common dolphins this endangered species have no snouts, so they look more like Orca's than dolphins. The number of Irrawaddy has decreased dramatically in the last four decades because they were hunted for their oil during the Pol Pot regime and locals used dynamite fishing (throwing grenades in the water) to catch them. We went out to the middle of the mighty Mekong river where the motors of the boats turned off. Before long the dolphins appeared on the surface. Now, these dolphins were not the kind that jumped out of the water in high loops. They simply came up every now and then for some air. Too short and far away to take good pictures, but long and close enough to clearly see them. The closest ones were probably 10 meters from the boat. Even though their visibility was limited the boat trip on the river in the rising sun was a real treat !

A nice diversion of the temples and exhausting travelling in Cambodia.