Community | July 22, 2010 | 13 comments

In the Past 11 Days, 556 Dead Baby Penguins Have Washed Up on the Beaches of Brazil, Along with Numerous Sea Birds, 5 Dolphins, 3 Giant Sea Turtles | Video |

source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/07/21/brazil.dead.penguins/index.html?hpt=Sbin

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EthicalVegan
Hundreds of penguins wash up on Brazilian coast

Also, numerous other sea birds, five dolphins and three giant sea turtles

By Mariano Castillo, CNN
July 22, 2010 11:19 a.m. EDT

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(CNN) -- Biologists suspect that unusually cold waters off the coast of Brazil were responsible for the deaths of more than 550 penguins that washed up on shore in the past 10 days.

Since July 11, about 556 dead penguins have appeared on beaches, Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe Aquarium, told CNN.

At the beach of Praia Grande alone, on the Sao Paulo coast, more than 170 penguins have washed up on shore since Friday, according to the local government.

It is not unusual for penguins to show up on the Brazilian coast during their migration, but most of the time, they are alive, said another biologist, Isabelle Nunes.

Necropsies performed on many of the penguins show that they had no food in their stomachs and probably starved to death, Nascimento said, adding that cold weather probably contributed to their deaths.



Nunes said it is possible that the cold waters, brought on by a regional cold front, made the fish that the penguins eat seek other waters.

More tests are being conducted, Nunes said.

Farther north, on the famous beaches of Rio de Janeiro, penguin appearances and rescues have become common in recent years.

It's normal for Magellan penguins to leave their colonies in the Antarctic in an annual migration in search of fish, following the plankton-rich, frigid water currents traveling north along the coast of South America. What has changed is that they are increasingly unable to return home because they get sick, weak or disoriented for reasons that have yet to be determined.

Climate change, overfishing and pollution of the water all could contribute to the penguins becoming lost.

The Niteroi Zoo, near Rio de Janeiro, first began receiving penguins for rescue in 1999. Since then, they have received an increasing number of the birds, peaking with 1,000 penguins in 2008.

CNN's Rafael Romo contributed to this report.



http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/americas/07/21/brazil.dead.penguins/story...
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13 comments // In the Past 11 Days, 556 Dead Baby Penguins Have Washed Up on the Beaches of Brazil, Along with Numerous Sea Birds, 5 Dolphins, 3 Giant Sea Turtles | Video |

  • Blkwdw
  • tommic
    • +1
      tommic  

    • Climate change means exactly that, many part of the world will warm, ocean currents will change, some places will experience colder seasons others will suffer heat and drought. People just cannot seem to fathom what the whole deal is on climate change. We, humans are altering the natural order in nature, that being said nature will now respond. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Not to hard to understand if your brain really works. This is not oil, there is also the South Atlantic anomoly where the magnetosphere is very weak now allowing ultra violet solar radiation to penetrate all the way to the surface of the ocean where its weak.

    • 1 year ago
  • treewolf39
  • tommic
    • +1
      tommic  
    • treewolf39:

      Unfortunatly mankind is a reactive creature. Nothing is going to happen until real catastrophe occurs. I say this as through history thats what we are reactive. Progressive thought is repulsive to conservatives who will wait until natural destruction presses mankind forward. Climate change is still challanged by deniers, how sad!

    • 1 year ago
  • Einsam_Data_Old
  • imawildman
  • Kurta
  • Joe_Medina
    • +3
      Joe_Medina  

    • Yeah I don't think unusually "cold" weather would kill sea life its obviously what has been going on in the world with the oil spills and our own undoing of life as we know it!

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +4
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image

    • http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0721/Penguin-deaths-on-Brazil-s-bea...

      Penguin deaths on Brazil's beaches caused by unusual currents

      Penguin deaths on the beaches of São Paulo state in Brazil may be caused by hunger or exhaustion after coming in search of food.

      Photo: Magellanic Penguins are pictured here in Chile. Some 500 Magellan penguins turned up dead on beaches in and around Peruibe, 80 miles south of São Paulo, Brazil.

      _____

      By Andrew Downie, Correspondent / July 21, 2010
      São Paulo, Brazil

      Penguins and Brazil go together like chalk and cheese. And yet the wee, fat birds have been in the news here all this week after some 500 Magellan penguins turned up dead on beaches in and around Peruibe, 80 miles south of São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city.

      Vets think they died of hunger or exhaustion after coming in search of food.

      “They come on the currents looking for food. Many of them are young and inexperienced and when they don’t find food they keep coming with the currents and eventually find themselves in Brazilian waters,” says Rafael Ramos, a vet at the Peruibe Aquarium who performed autopsies on some of the dead animals.

      “Because they have come so far, they are weak. We think they died of hunger or exhaustion. They had nothing in their stomachs,” he says in a telephone interview today with the Monitor.

      A recent cold front that brought high wind and rough seas tired the birds out even further, Mr. Ramos adds.

      It is normal for Patagonian penguins to swim north in the southern hemisphere’s winter in search of sardines or squid. They catch the wrong current and wash up in exotic locales such as Rio de Janeiro or Bahia.

      Normally the birds arrive tired but alive, and are welcomed with bemused but typical Brazilian hospitality. Holidaymakers take them to local officials, who take them to zoos and aquariums. From there, they are flown to southern Argentina on Brazilian military planes and released into the freezing south Atlantic. Occasionally, they are taken as pets and walked on leashes.

      Vets are not sure why these penguins were searching for food so far from their usual habitat of Patagonia. Some scientists believe the La Nina phenomenon that causes colder waters in the Pacific off Peru and Chile enticed fish there and led to scarcity in the Atlantic.

      Others think it could be simple over-fishing.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image
    • EthicalVegan:

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10707906

      21 July 2010 Last updated at 20:41 ET

      Hundreds of dead penguins washed up in Brazil

      Dead penguin on Peruibe beach The high number of dead penguins is worrying scientists

      Hundreds of penguins have been washed up dead on the beaches of Brazil.

      Scientists are still investigating what could have caused the death of around 500 animals found on the shores of Sao Paulo state.

      They say autopsies carried out on some of the carcasses suggest they could have starved to death, as their stomachs were completely empty.

      They are now trying to establish if strong currents and colder temperatures may be to blame.

      Thiago do Nascimento of the Peruibe Aquarium says the cooler than usual temperatures off the coast could have driven away the fish and squid the penguins feed on.

      But he did not rule out that overfishing could have decimated the penguins' food sources.

      Mr Nascimento said between 100 and 150 penguins showed up on the beaches every year, but that they were normally alive, with only around 10 washed up dead in an average year.

      "What worries us this year, is the absurdly high number of penguins that have appeared dead in a short period of time," he told the Associated Press news agency.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +2
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image
    • EthicalVegan:

      http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/20/2959151.htm

      Dead penguins, dolphins wash ashore in Brazil

      Posted Tue Jul 20, 2010 3:14pm AEST

      Environment officials are investigating why hundreds of dead penguins and other sea animals are washing up on Brazil's shores.

      The Institute of Environment and Natural Resources says 530 penguins, numerous other sea birds, five dolphins and three giant sea turtles have been found in coastal towns in Sao Paulo, the Folha Online news agency reported.

      The institute says Sao Paulo University biologists and a wildlife research centre are looking into the possible reasons for the animal deaths.

      Praia Grande authorities have ruled out pollution, saying preliminary investigations point to starvation as the cause.

      The most likely scenario for the penguin deaths is exhaustion and hunger during their long migration from the waters off Argentina's southern Patagonia region, according to Andrea Maranho, a veterinarian for the Sea Animal Rehabilitation Centre in Praia Grande.

      - AFP

      http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2010/07/20/image6695756g.jpg

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image
    • EthicalVegan:

      http://www.treehugger.com/dead-penguin-photo-00001.jpg

      http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/07/22/Dead-penguins-washing-up-in...

      Published: July 22, 2010 at 5:47 PM
      ArticleArticle

      PERUIBE, Brazil, July 22 (UPI) -- Hundreds of dead Magellanic penguins have washed ashore on beaches in Brazil this month, animal experts say.

      At least 500 have been reported in the Peruibe area, The Christian Science Monitor reported. The city is south of Sao Paulo.

      Rafael Ramos, a veterinarian at the Peruibe Aquarium, said penguins he has necropsied have no food in their stomachs.

      "They come on the currents looking for food," he told the Monitor in a phone interview. "Many of them are young and inexperienced and when they don't find food they keep coming with the currents and eventually find themselves in Brazilian waters."

      The penguins breed on the coast of Patagonia in southern Argentina in the southern summer. They spend the winter at sea hunting for fish.

      Some researchers believe La Nina has caused fish to move from the Southern Atlantic to the Pacific coast of South America, leaving less fish for the penguins. Others say long-term overfishing threatens the birds.

      Officials at Niteroi Zoo near Rio de Janeiro said the number of penguins washing up on beaches in that area appears to have increased, with 1,000 birds given to the zoo for rescue in 2008.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
    • +1
      EthicalVegan  
    • Image
    • EthicalVegan:

      http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/21/dead-penguins-brazil-beaches
      http://www.treehugger.com/Baby%20Penguin%20for%20Roundup%20photo.jpg

      Dead penguins wash up on Brazil's beaches

      Scientists suspect starvation from changing water temperatures or overfishing after 500 birds found in 10 days

      Hundreds of penguins that have apparently starved to death are washing up on the beaches of Brazil, worrying scientists who are investigating what exactly killed them.

      About 500 penguins had been found in the last 10 days on Peruibe, Praia Grande and Itanhaem beaches in São Paulo state, said Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe aquarium.

      Most were Magellan penguins migrating north from Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands in search of food in warmer waters.

      Many are not finding it: autopsies done on several birds have revealed their stomachs were entirely empty – indicating they likely starved to death, Nascimento said.

      Scientists are investigating whether strong currents and colder than normal waters have hurt populations of the species that make up the penguins' diet, or whether human activity may be playing a role.

      "Overfishing may have made the fish and squid scarcer," Nascimento said.

      Nascimento said it was common for penguins to swim north at this time of year. Inevitably some get lost along the way or die from hunger or exhaustion and end up on the Brazilian coast far from home.

      But not in such numbers – Nascimento said about 100 to 150 live penguins show up on the beach in an average year and only 10 or so dead ones. "What worries us this year is the absurdly high number of penguins that have appeared dead in a short period of time."

      Click here to watch video:

      http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/21/dead-penguins-brazil-beaches

    • 1 year ago
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