Dead Birds Dead Dolphins Wash Up on Peru’s Coast
B. Mcpherson The cause of the dolphin deaths has been attributed to a measles like virus. No answers yet about the pelican deaths Thousands of deaths have occurred in the waters off Peru. Dolphins have been washing ashore in large numbers and thousands of sea birds, mostly pelicans have littered the shore. The jury is still out on the cause of death of the birds, but the culprit in the deaths of the dolphins has been named. Samples were sent out of country to confirm the suspicions that a virus caused the mammals deaths. “Specialists from the Marine Mammal Center (MMC), in the United States, have confirmed the death of thousands of dolphins in northern Peru was caused by the ‘morbillivirus’ .” Peru this Week The numerous carcasses of the marine mammals have not been removed from the public and incinerated or otherwise safely disposed of, leading to criticism from an environmental NGO that the highly contagious virus might be able to “species jump” to humans. ...