By William Croyle
Enquirer contributor

NEWPORT - Eileen Flynn took a heavy-duty raincoat, brimmed hat and was prepared to be eaten alive by bugs on the Amazon adventure she returned from last week.

"It rained on us once and there were only three or four mosquitoes total," she said. "It was an amazing trip."

Eileen Flynn holds a red-bellied piranha from a tributary to Solimones. (Photo provided)

Flynn, 27, is a senior aquatic biologist at the Newport Aquarium, where she's in charge of the Amazon exhibit. She returned from her 12-day trip healthy, excited and proud of a discovery she and her fellow scientists made.

"We did a lot of fishing and found two streams that Cardinal Tetras had not been found in before," said Flynn.

Cardinal Tetras, a popular aquarium fish, are a major export in the $600 million aquarium fish industry. It's a worldwide trade, but nearly all of the fish come from the Amazon region.

Flynn took her trip with Project Piaba, a scientific research group that tries to determine sustainable levels of fishing in the Amazon. The group shares its data with the natives to help them make a living as fishermen rather than as loggers or ranchers, which would destroy the rain forest.

Flynn was on a cabin-cruiser-type boat with 25 passengers and crew members. The passengers included professors, chemists, a stock trader and some retirees from the U.S., Taiwan and Singapore.

Flynn spent each day canoeing, swimming, snorkeling and fishing on four different rivers from 5 a.m. until midnight. She ate a lot of fish, including arapaima - one type of fish she cares for at the aquarium.

"Most of the time I didn't know what I ate until after I ate it," said Flynn. "When I found out I ate arapaima, I said 'Oops! Sorry guys.'"

The temperature was a muggy 85 to 95 degrees. She said the birds and monkeys were extremely loud in the mornings and evenings but must have been taking naps during the afternoon heat when it was very quiet.

She also visited a farmhouse that belonged to a family of five. "It was a one-room house like little kids draw," said Flynn. A door, two windows with no glass and a triangle roof. It was probably 8 feet by 12 feet."

She said communication was not a problem since most of the crew members spoke some English, and she learned a little Portuguese before she left.

Flynn said she's "ready to go back now" and has already talked with one person at the aquarium about taking a trip there together to do more research.

"I hope to go back next year," she said.