A few years ago, my wife Nancy, Joanne Fields, my daughter Allison Ehrke and I traveled to Brazil to swim and interact with the Boto dolphins in the Amazon River. Nancy took all the pictures in this article except the jaguar and featured photo of me caressing the heart of a Boto. My sister-in-law, Joanne Fields took that shot. Disappointed initially, because I could not look into a Boto’s eyes and communicate visually as I was accustomed to do with ocean dwelling dolphins and whales, I was about to learn a lesson. Always a teacher…this dolphin choose instead to touch my heart. Since I’ve known a long time ago not to make snap judgements, I was delighted to receive the following message in meditation the next day.
The Amazon is ten miles across in some locations.
Boto, the Amazon River Dolphins
We welcome you into our bosom, our abode and wonderful country during an auspicious time in world events. Living in a dark world, we rarely see our prey or even a friend with any clarity. We, the Boto live in a world of shadow and rely upon our instincts each day. We occasionally meet up with friends but our existence is solitary in nature. Security depends upon trusting our senses and connecting to the All That Is. Trust is our reliable ally and unfortunately this wonderful quality is becoming a rarer and rarer commodity throughout the world each day.
Humanity is programmed to overcome adversity and desires control. We have found the secret to enduring power, requires trust and developing a healthy relationship with light…but also darkness. 
People tend to ignore their shadows and succumb to fear, which leads to fear-based societies. Afraid of the dark and their psychological shadows, people are struggling more and more around the world. Our prayers are with everyone as you attempt to resolve the frequent unrest around the globe.
We, the Boto river dolphins, offer a loving reminder about the necessary dance between light and darkness. Humanity often fails to examine their personal areas of responsibility or explore one’s unpleasant darker motivations. Many people believe they create their reality but not everyone understands how this important spiritual concept applies to their daily activities. Take for instance the polarized political phenomenon in the United States, which feeds on private fears, fans the collective’s anger, and projects unexamined shadow onto marginalized minorities and adversaries. Unfortunately, these we-versus-them strategies only expands an ever-growing list of bad guys. Blaming others without taking any personal responsibility is a primitive but ancient quality, that has never really worked for humanity. The core principles of good leadership include earning a collective’s trust by taking care of one’s people, treating others in the world similarly and respecting all life forms as they would instinctively do with anyone in their core, soul family. We encourage humanity to consider our suggestions about personal integrity and eventually treat every living being with dignity.
We, the Boto river dolphins, have chosen a life, which on the surface does not appear to be community focused. We communicate with one another and feel other’s presence yet spend most of our life as solitary creature living in what most people would call darkness in the coffee-colored Amazon River. However, our true purpose includes supporting all life. We enjoy our peers but never loose sight of our personal agenda to love everyone and everything in the universe. 
Our beak and teeth are agile and adapted to our environment to secure food due to limited visibility. We use our advanced sense called sonar and would suggest humans do the same with your vast intuitive sensing mechanisms.
We came to the Amazon and hold a different energy than our dolphin cousins in the sea. We anchor our spiritual energy into the land and offer guidance by holding the sanctity of the River, the people and all the wild life in every form. We pray every day for abundance and the sanctity of all life. 
This is our mission, our passion and purpose of existence. Our cousins, the whales mirror oneness, providing reflective loving mirrors in the ocean, while we mirror similar love from the jungle and for all terrestrial life. We share this mission with our elephant brothers and sisters in other places around the world.
Spiritual anchors like elephants and jaguars hold vortexes of energy, which act like antennae or satellite dishes that ground divine love into the planet in crucial places around the world. Like Ganesh in the Indian tradition, the jaguar holds the qualities of earthly power, strength, will and fortitude to overcome obstacles. Completing a worthy project sometimes requires a jaguar’s ferociousness to lend strength to any endeavor.
We, the Boto river dolphins serve this function in the Amazon and for both American continents. We want to teach humans how to live in shadows, while remaining connected to source and Oneness. Honor and respect all life and cast a large net. Trust your instincts to do what is right and do not rely upon only eyesight for guidance. Spiritual understanding requires exploring shadow to improve the world and create personal balance.
There are many stories in Amazon folklore about river dolphins turning into humans. The indigenous tribes acknowledged our ability to transcend our existence. Holding a higher purpose for existence, we offer this possibility to humanity so you can learn from us. Native lore speaks about Botos abducting and taking humans to a special place of transformation. They are accurate in a sense because we never loose our connection to the divine, our spiritual purpose and our intention to bring humans along with us so everyone can experience their divine origins. Please join us on our journey to create more love and trust on this beautiful planet.
An Amazon sunset