Dead Penguins Washing Ashore In Brazil

Hundreds Of Baby Penguins Washing Up Dead On Rio De Janeiro's Tropical Beaches

(AP)  Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro's tropical beaches, rescuers and penguin experts said Friday.

More than 400 penguins, most of them young, have been found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro state over the past two months, according to Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent for the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio.

While it is common here to find some penguins - both dead and alive - swept by strong ocean currents from the Strait of Magellan, Pimenta said there have been more this year than at any time in recent memory.

Experts are divided over the possible causes.

Thiago Muniz, a veterinarian at the Niteroi Zoo, said he believed overfishing has forced the penguins to swim further from shore to find fish to eat "and that leaves them more vulnerable to getting caught up in the strong ocean currents."

Niteroi, the state's biggest zoo, already has already received about 100 penguins for treatment this year and many are drenched in petroleum, Muniz said. The Campos oil field that supplies most of Brazil's oil lies offshore.

Muniz said he hadn't seen penguins suffering from the effects of other pollutants, but he pointed out that already dead penguins aren't brought in for treatment.

Pimenta suggested pollution is to blame.

"Aside from the oil in the Campos basin, the pollution is lowering the animals' immunity, leaving them vulnerable to funguses and bacteria that attack their lungs," Pimenta said, quoting biologists who work with him.

But biologist Erli Costa of Rio de Janeiro's Federal University suggested weather patterns could be involved.

"I don't think the levels of pollution are high enough to affect the birds so quickly. I think instead we're seeing more young and sick penguins because of global warming, which affects ocean currents and creates more cyclones, making the seas rougher," Costa said.

Costa said the vast majority of penguins turning up are baby birds that have just left the nest and are unable to out-swim the strong ocean currents they encounter while searching for food.

Every year, Brazil airlifts dozens of penguins back to Antarctica or Patagonia.

[libsluv2spit]

Every species is an important part of the whole eco-system. Climate changes brought on by humans has greatly effected many species.We take and take and give nothing back to our animal friends,fellow planet riders. Ignorant people feel as though we humans are the only species that counts and quite frankly I would rather spend a day among penguins than a day amongst ignorant idiots. Poor penguins.

Posted by lovesamerica at 04:43 PM : Jul 21, 2008
+ report abuse

********

its called ''survival of the fittest"..its a golden rule since the beggining of time..of course you are suffering from a ''jesus'' complex typical from among liberal athiests...that they have to redesign everything..

i hope you dont get jock itch..its pretty unPC to kill a defenseless fungus..

[sociald63]

did you know that penguin tastes like chicken ??

[lovesamerica]

Every species is an important part of the whole eco-system. Climate changes brought on by humans has greatly effected many species.We take and take and give nothing back to our animal friends,fellow planet riders. Ignorant people feel as though we humans are the only species that counts and quite frankly I would rather spend a day among penguins than a day amongst ignorant idiots. Poor penguins.

[rudy654-2009]

We are more important then penguins. and besides other then entertainment at the zoo what good is a penguin ?

Posted by m04364 a

Stupid little man.

[besscannon-2009]

Lord! It is a dastardly shame how the innocents are suffering and dying for the careless, thoughtless, selfish sins of the human race. And to read comments like the one above that "we should sample penquin meat before their taste is gone forever" is the kind of heartless attitude that is causing most of the problems. If we don''t wise up, one day we will be the species dying off because of global conditions we neglected while there was still time to solve them and save ourselves. The human species is SUPPOSED to be the most intelligent of all on earth. I am wondering, ARE WE????

[rf35]

Do you believe smoking causes cancer?
Posted by dennisall77

No, I don%u2019t. I believe smoking accelerates the onset of the lung cancer that the smoker would have gotten anyway.


This planet will be much better off without human beings, now infesting it at more than 6 Billion when the planet can only sustain half that many.
Posted by gglenc

More like one sixth that many. Studies I%u2019ve seen set a number of about 900 million as a sustainable human population. That''s assuming all of those maintain a lifestyle similar to the average American during the 1990%u2019s.


Obviously global warming is the reason.
Posted by shameonbush

How is this obvious? The penguins were saturated with petrol. That doesn%u2019t sound like something caused by global warming; or are you saying the increased temp is causing crude to bubble up to the surface all by itself?

[nothappyatall]

"Please, we do not want off shore drilling, we need more answers, or do we have to just sit back and watch our world die? Can''''t we look into this penquin problem?"

Let''s look into the human OVERPOPULATION problem first, ONE child per couple. Every one of the problems today is a direct result of too many people.

They use a photo of penguins in a zoo to illustrait the article??

[shameonbush]

As most people know, penguins go on long and demanding migration where they breed, pass the egg to the father, who endures long months of the coldest temperatures on earth protecting this egg while the females migrate back for food. These penguins are willing to sacrifice so much for these little hatchlings. Truly no birth was brought forth with such effort as that of a penguin. Please, we do not want off shore drilling, we need more answers, or do we have to just sit back and watch our world die? Can''t we look into this penquin problem? Obviously global warming is the reason. Bush should examine his priorities. Surely research into global warming at a more rapid pace is more neccesary than a war perpetuated by rich oil men. We need to take global warming more serioucly.

[rushlimpdrug]

Natural selection
Posted by whiskyrocker at 06:56 PM


Sure.
You just keep selecting "whisky"
and reproducing.

[bpai99]

Has anyone ever tried penguin meat? I never have but suspect it''s similar to seal meat (which I have tried; oily and with a strong flavor). The way things are going, there are many animals we''ll have to sample soon before their taste is gone forever.

[whiskyrocker]

Natural selection

[m04364]

screw the penguins. It is all about survival . We fish and drill oil to survive. they swim to find food to survive . We are more important then penguins. and besides other then entertainment at the zoo what good is a penguin ?

[AlwaysSmiling]

This has never happened before! The world is heating up beyond anything we''''ve ever seen! The sky is falling!!! Get a grip, folks, and do a little research. If you look up vikings and greenland, you''''ll stumble upon the reasons why this frozen wasteland was called Greenland.

==================================

Also from my history teacher. "The Vikings didn''t want anyone else knowing that Iceland was so fertile (in other words they wanted to keep it for themselves) so they named the worst of the two "Greenland" and the better of the two "Iceland". That way explorers would be more apt to go to Greenland than Iceland.

Have a nice day:)
Patrick.

[AlwaysSmiling]

This has never happened before! The world is heating up beyond anything we''''ve ever seen! The sky is falling!!! Get a grip, folks, and do a little research. If you look up vikings and greenland, you''''ll stumble upon the reasons why this frozen wasteland was called Greenland. I just came back from Central America, and it was 62 degrees at night at an altitude of 2600 feet. The Antarctic ice shelf has been experiencing amazing growth, so If you want to say the world is warming, that is fine, however, you may want to do some first-hand data gathering yourself before you add yourself to the belligerent mob

Posted by endofempire at 05:52 PM : Jul 19, 2008

=========================
2 questions for you.

Wouldn''t it be cooler at 2600 feet? (I could be wrong on this, but since the air gets thinner as you get higher, it should be cooler).

What does the temperature in Central America have to do with the ice fields in Antarctica? Now, if you had said "I just got back from Antarctica" that would have been different.

Here''s an example for Global Warming for you. When I was a kid (born in 1970) you never saw anyone in Antarctica with ANY portion of their body exposed. Now, people look like they''re skiing in Colorado down there. That''s not warmer? Then what is?

Have a great day:)
Patrick.

[gglenc]

Virtually ALL mammals on the planet are declining in number EXCEPT humans! This planet will be much better off without human beings, now infesting it at more than 6 Billion when the planet can only sustain half that many.

The GREED of human beings is the cause of the deaths of so many animals, that it will cause the extinction of humans here as well.

Stephen Hawking was right when he stated that it was too late for humans here. Those penguins on the beaches of Rio are just one more example that will be ignored by the humans who have trashed this planet.

It''s time for Mother Nature to clean up and to throw out the humans to take back what was given. Humans have violated the very planet that has provided the nurturing of all life. Humans, instead, trashed it.

[gglenc]

Just another example of mankind''s future of himself. Human beings'' greed and disgusting behavior are killing off ALL of Mother Nature''s "gifts." This planet will be better off without human beings given their trashing of it.

[gmond]

poor penguins.

[thgdriver]

The motion picture Soylent Green was fiction but oh so prophetic.

[soloman6]

It is about time for every single citizens to clean up our acts and clean up the place we all call home- the earth, before it''s too late!

[rushlimpdrug]

The Antarctic ice shelf has been experiencing amazing growth, so If you want to say the world is warming, that is fine, however, you may want to do some first-hand data gathering yourself before you add yourself to the belligerent mob
Posted by endofempire at 05:52 PM


Your "amazing growth" in stupidity has been noted.

There is nothing to support your claim,
not even a satellite photo.

Trya again.