Wildlife

El Niño Starves Seabirds

Hot ocean currents caused by El Niño, not avian flu, were behind the deaths of pelicans, seagulls and other wild birds, tests suggest. When hundreds of birds were found dead along Mexico's Pacific coast earlier this year, experts immediately suspected avian flu.

Mexico’s Agriculture Department said yesterday (15 June) that tests on the dead birds revealed they had died of starvation, not flu. “According to autopsies carried out by veterinarians and specialised biologists, it was found that the animals died of starvation,” the department said.

Warming surface water in the Pacific caused by El Niño can drive fish into deeper, cooler water, making it harder for birds to find food, preventing sea birds from catching food, the department said. Most of the dead birds were Sooty Shearwaters, seagulls and pelicans. They died in states ranging from Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, all the way north and west to Baja California.