Around 2,000 penguins have appeared dead on the coast of eastern Uruguay in the last 10 days, and the cause, which does not appear to be avian influenza, remains a mystery, authorities said.
“This is mortality in the water. Ninety percent are young specimens that arrive without fat reserves and with empty stomachs,” she said, and stressed that all samples taken have tested negative for avian influenza. “It is normal for some percentage to die, but not these numbers,” Leizagoyen said, recalling that a similar die-off occurred last year in Brazil, for undetermined reasons.
Environmental advocates attribute the increase in Magellanic penguin deaths to overfishing and illegal fishing. “From the 1990s and 2000s we began to see animals with a lack of food. The resource is overexploited,” Richard Tesore, of the NGO SOS Marine Wildlife Rescue, told AFP.
That sucks. We really need good regulations and enforcement for this stuff.
That sucks. We really need good regulations and enforcement for this stuff.