Baby Penguins Dead In Brazil

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.

Rescuers and those who treat penguins 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.

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Comments

[JulieSA]

What a useless article. It doesn't give the species of penguin, which has a huge a bearing on the nature of this problem, since the various species occupy a fairly wide variety of niches in the Southern oceans.

The picture HuffPo selected shows an Emperor penguin chick, but HuffPo habitually uses stock pictures that have nothing to do with the article.

Bah.

[Jessegirl]

What does it matter "what kind of chick", if they are drenched in oil anyway? What does it matter "what kind of chick" if food is getting harder for them to find? It all works its way up the food chain anyway lady..."Drenched in petroleum" and "overfishing" is kind of the point here, its telling us something that is going on out there....

[ashabot]

So, wait until it's 4,000 dead or, hey, maybe 4,000,000. What the hell? The only life that matters on the planet is human.

[Gabrielle]

THE HUMAN RACE IS SICK

[TimmySlagle]

"Pimenta said there have been more this year than at any time in recent memory."

Well there's a scientific quantity!

[OneVoiceInACrowd]

I'd call it consenses.. J/K

WTF I thought brazil didn't use oil, just that sugarcane.

[rivrgrrl]

The sugar cane is for ethanol for their autos; they still use oil for heating, industry and energy.