AMAZONIAN MANATEES - Óbidos at Amazon.com

Why would Amazon.com commemorate the site of manatee massacres in its website sales system? The online bookseller isn't letting on, but New Scientist may have the answer

In New Scientist Issue 2558, July 1 2006, they speculate on the use of the word "Óbidos" in online retailer Amazon's URLs all over the world.

For example, here's part of the URL for the book "Last Chance To See" at Amazon.com...
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=...

Óbidos is also a town on the real-world Amazon. It can hardly be coincidence, so the folks at Amazon.com must be indulging in a clever play on words.

What's so special about this town? Situated between Manaus at the heart of the Amazon rainforest and the seaport city of Belém, Óbidos is small and sleepy today, but in the late 18th and early 19th centuries it was a big, bustling place with consulates from 16 nations, a busy port and packed warehouses. The source of its wealth was not rubber - that came later - but the Amazonian manatee, Trichechus inunguis.

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