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.