Magellanic penguin

This is kind of weird… Apparently there are hundreds of dead penguins, who look like they’ve starved to death, are washing up on the beaches of Brazil of all places. This is very worrying for scientists on many levels, however the main focal point is just what is causing then to perish.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 of the flightless birds have been found over the past week and a half on Peruibe, Praia Grande, and the Itanhaem beaches in Sao Paolo State. This comment comes from Thiago de Nascimento, who is a biologist with the Peruibe Aquarium.

The majority of these penguins were Magellan penguins, on their way north from Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, searching for food in warmer waters.

What is so troubling scientists so much, is that many of these penguins are not finding the food they seek. Autopsies performed on many of the penguins revealed that their stomachs were entirely empty..

Researcher are investigating whether the fault lays in strong currents, or colder waters than what have been the norm, which may have caused the species the penguin relies on for food to thin out, or if maybe human activity is to blame.

“Overfishing may have made the fish and squid scarcer,” Nascimento has explained.

He also said that it is common for penguins to make their way north this time of the year. Unfortunately, some of them do happen to lose their way and perish from hunger or exhaustion, and then wind up dead on the Brazilian coast far from their homes.

However, in these numbers it is a grave concern… Hopefully they find an answer soon, before these creatures wind up the going the way of the do do bird.