Pablo Bordino

Pablo Bordino is the Director of AquaMarine, a conservation NGO in Argentina, and an Associated Researcher to the Marine Mammals Lab at the Argentinean Museum of Natural Sciences in Buenos Aires. He studies the La Plata River dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), also called the "franciscana" in Argentina. He is working to find out how many La Plata dolphins live on the coast of Argentina. Very little is known about their behavior or habits. Pablo hopes to let fishermen know where the dolphins are found, and help them avoid the catching the dolphins in their nets. He is also working with the government of Argentina to make better laws to protect the dolphins.

Pablo has always been interested in wildlife. He is especially interested in dolphins and whales. He began to study animals when he was 7 years old by reading about them and drawing pictures. "At first, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer," he told us "but when I found out how dolphins are treated at many aquariums, I knew that I didnÕt want to do that." Instead, he worked to become a scientist.

It takes a lot of work to study wildlife, but it can be fun too. Pablo told us that he used to study orcas, also called killer whales, in Patagonia. One day, while walking on the beach with his friend Miguel, Pablo noticed two orcas. The whales seemed to be watching the men as closely as they were watching the whales. When Pablo and Miguel split up, the orcas that were following them split up too. One whale followed Pablo, and the other followed Miguel. Pablo and Miguel decided to see what would happen if they switched sides. To their surprise, the orcas continued to follow the same person! To test things further, Pablo and Miguel traded clothes. Again, the orcas followed the same person! Pablo said, "We don't know why they behaved this way, but it was interesting."

Do you have questions for Pablo?
E-mail Pablo to ask him about his work with the La Plata River dolphin.