This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Hundreds of penguins that have apparently starved to death are washing up on the beaches of Brazil, worrying scientists who are investigating what exactly killed them.

About 500 penguins had been found in the last 10 days on Peruibe, Praia Grande and Itanhaem beaches in São Paulo state, said Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe aquarium.

Most were Magellan penguins migrating north from Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands in search of food in warmer waters.

Many are not finding it: autopsies done on several birds have revealed their stomachs were entirely empty – indicating they likely starved to death, Nascimento said.

Scientists are investigating whether strong currents and colder than normal waters have hurt populations of the species that make up the penguins' diet, or whether human activity may be playing a role.

"Overfishing may have made the fish and squid scarcer," Nascimento said.

Nascimento said it was common for penguins to swim north at this time of year. Inevitably some get lost along the way or die from hunger or exhaustion and end up on the Brazilian coast far from home.

But not in such numbers – Nascimento said about 100 to 150 live penguins show up on the beach in an average year and only 10 or so dead ones. "What worries us this year is the absurdly high number of penguins that have appeared dead in a short period of time."