Climate Action
8 Crazy Facts You Didn’t Know About Brazil’s Wild Side
November 18, 2025
As world leaders gather in Belém, for COP30, the United Nations Climate Conference, there is no better time to celebrate the extraordinary natural wonders of Brazil. Brazil isn’t just a backdrop for climate discussions — it is a living laboratory of evolution, a treasure trove of biodiversity, and home to some of the most bizarre and beautiful phenomena on Earth. From blushing dolphins to deserts that sprout lagoons with fish, here are eight incredible facts about Brazil that will change the way you see this remarkable country.
1. Dolphins That “Blush”
The Amazon River is home to an enchanting creature: the boto, or endangered pink river dolphin. While these freshwater dolphins are born gray like their oceanic counterparts dolphins, they gradually transform into various shades of pink as they mature. Their exact coloration depends on a mix of factors, including diet, sun exposure, and the layout of their blood vessels. Male dolphins can display more vibrant pink hues because their aggressive playing and fighting creates scar tissue that intensifies their rosy color. Perhaps most charmingly, some of these dolphins can turn brighter pink when excited or apparently embarrassed — just like a blushing human!
These dolphins also possess unusually flexible necks that allow them to rotate their heads a full 180 degrees, allowing them to navigate the flooded forests and winding tributaries of the Amazon. A local folklore legend claims that the boto transforms into a handsome man at night, seducing unsuspecting women.
2. Desert Lagoons Full of Fish
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in northeastern Brazil is a Sahara of white sand dunes. Each year, it transforms as turquoise lagoons appear among the dunes — filled with fish!
From January to June, torrential rains fill the valleys between the dunes with thousands of turquoise lagoons, which are prevented from draining by impermeable rock underneath the sandy surface. Remarkably, these temporary pools become full of fish. These traíra, or wolffish, survive the dry season by burrowing into wet layers of mud and entering a dormant state. When the rain returns months later, the wolffish emerge to populate the lagoons once again.
3. Surfing a Wave in the Amazon
The Pororoca is an extraordinary surfing phenomena. The Pororoca is a tidal bore — a wave that travels up a river, against the current — making its way up to 500 miles upstream of the Amazon River. Brazilian surfing legend Picuruta Salazar made history by riding a single Pororoca wave for 7.8 miles for over 37 minutes.
4. One Tree the Size of a Forest
In northeastern Brazil is the Pirangi cashew tree, a single cashew tree so gigantic that it is estimated to cover between 1.8 and 2.1 acres of land. Its circumference measures 1,600 feet, which is equivalent to 70 standard, adult cashew trees. In addition to its impressive size, the Cashew of Pirangi is estimated to be over 1,000 years old.
5. An Island Ruled by Snakes
Off Brazil’s Atlantic coast lies Ilha da Queimada Grande, ominously known as “Snake Island” — an isle that lives up to its name. This small island is packed with 2,000 – 4,000 golden lancehead pit vipers, a critically endangered species found nowhere else on Earth.
Local legend abounds with tales of tragic fates — from a fisherman discovered dead in his boat covered in bites after landing in search of bananas, to the last lighthouse keeper and his entire family, who allegedly perished in the 1920s when snakes slithered through their windows. The Brazilian Navy has prohibited public access to protect both the snakes and would-be visitors from each other.
6. Dust Feeds the Amazon
One of nature’s most remarkable long-distance relationships connects two seemingly disparate ecosystems: the Amazon Rainforest and the Sahara Desert.
In 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, used satellite technology to measure this phenomenon, discovering that wind and weather patterns lift an average of 182 million tons of dust from the Sahara each year and carry it on a 1,600 mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean — with 27.7 million tons settling in the Amazon basin. In 2021, this dust was estimated to deliver approximately 22,000 tons of phosphorus, an essential nutrient for plant growth — roughly the same amount the Amazon rainforest loses every year to rain and flooding.
It is a stunning reminder that Earth’s ecosystems are intimately connected, even across vast distances.
7. Jaguars of the Giant Wetland
The Pantanal in Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay is the world’s largest tropical wetland, covering an area 20 times larger than the Florida Everglades. This seasonally flooded plain harbors the highest density of wild jaguars anywhere on Earth. While jaguars are typically elusive in dense rainforests, the Pantanal’s open wetlands provide the best place on Earth to catch sight of these cats.
8. Earth’s Biodiversity Champion
Brazil is the undisputed champion of global biodiversity. Between 15 to 20 percent of all known species on Earth call Brazil home. This extraordinary diversity of life stems from Brazil’s array of ecosystems — six terrestrial biomes that allow a variety of life to flourish. Brazil’s biodiversity continues to grow, with an average of 700 new animal species discovered each year.
As world leaders gather in Belém, these eight facts serve as a powerful reminder of what’s at stake. Preserving Brazil’s natural heritage isn’t just about preserving remarkable facts for articles — it’s about safeguarding the ecological systems upon which all life, including our own, depends. As we look towards Belém for COP30, let Brazil’s extraordinary nature inspire us to take bold action for our shared planetary home.
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