Hundreds of dead baby penguins have been washing ashore off the coast of Rio de Janeiro over the past two months. The penguins are being swept away from the icy shores of Antarctica and washing up dead on the beaches of Rio. According to Michael Astor with the Associated Press, there have been more penguins (approximately 400) this year than any other year. One of the reported causes could be overfishing which causes the penguins to swim further from shore to eat and in turn they get caught up in the strong ocean currents. The article also states possible causes could be pollution as well as ocean current changes because of more cyclones due to climate change. Most of the penguins that are washing ashore are babies that have recently left the nest and are not strong enough to out swim the strong ocean currents.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Dead Baby Penguins Washing Ashore
Hundreds of dead baby penguins have been washing ashore off the coast of Rio de Janeiro over the past two months. The penguins are being swept away from the icy shores of Antarctica and washing up dead on the beaches of Rio. According to Michael Astor with the Associated Press, there have been more penguins (approximately 400) this year than any other year. One of the reported causes could be overfishing which causes the penguins to swim further from shore to eat and in turn they get caught up in the strong ocean currents. The article also states possible causes could be pollution as well as ocean current changes because of more cyclones due to climate change. Most of the penguins that are washing ashore are babies that have recently left the nest and are not strong enough to out swim the strong ocean currents.
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2 comments:
These changes to the Antarctic environment don't just affect penguins. The melting of the ice sheet that is destroying the food and habitat of the penguins is a huge threat to the global ecosystem. I wrote a blog entry about how changes in Antarctica can affect the whole world.
it seems that nothing will be done about global warmimg and it's distasterous effects until ordinary people understand how thier daily actions contibute to this
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