Scientists find it difficult to name the reason for this incident
Hundreds of penguins washed away from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia were carried to the tropical beaches of Rio de Janeiro. In total, rescuers have found more than 400 penguins in the past two months, the Associated Press reported.
And although the finding of living and dead penguins on the coast of the state is a quite common phenomenon, they have never been found in such a number. Experts disagree at the moment as to what could have caused these events.
Thiago Muniz, a veterinarian at the Niteroi Zoo, believes that the reason was a lack of fish, forcing the penguins to swim further in search of food, where they were caught in strong currents and could not return.
Niteroi Zoo, the largest zoo in the state, has already brought in about 100 penguins for treatment. Many of them suffer from being smeared with oil. Apparently, this is to blame for the oil platform near the city of Campus, which supplies oil to almost all of Brazil and is located on the high seas.
Muniz said that he had not yet observed the penguins suffering from other pollution factors, but immediately added that dead birds were not brought to him.
But biologist Airlie Costa of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro disagrees with the conclusion that environmental pollution is to blame. He insists that the level of pollution is not high enough to quickly affect penguin mortality. Then what is to be blamed for the tragedy? According to the biologist - climate change.
"I think that so many young penguins in very poor health may be due to global warming affecting ocean currents, creating more cyclones and making the seas less friendly."
Most of the penguins found are chicks that have just left the nest and cannot resist strong ocean currents.
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Dozens of rescued penguins are transported from Brazil to Antarctica and Patagonia every year.
