The vital Amazon River is a lifeline for flora and fauna alike. Credit: Thomas Peschak / National GeographicSunlight illuminates a pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) swimming across a flooded clearing in the Brazilian Amazon. Where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean, tidal changes are sometimes ferocious. Credit: ©Thomas Peschak / National Geographic. A portion of the Amazon River plume north of the mouth runs along the so-called Amazon coast as far north as the island of Trinidad.