Plagues,
Pestilences and Diseases
Keep off beaches, Peru warns after thousands of dolphin -
pelican deaths
Reuters
LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's government declared a health alert along
its northern coastline on Saturday and urged residents and
tourists to stay away from long stretches of beach, as it
investigates the unexplained deaths of hundreds of dolphins and
pelicans.
At least 1,500 birds, mostly pelicans, washed up dead along a
stretch of Peru's northern Pacific coastline in recent weeks,
health officials said, after an estimated 900 dolphins died in the
same area in recent months.
The Health Ministry recommended staying away from beaches,
although it stopped short of a ban, and called on health officials
to use gloves, masks and other protective gear when collecting
dead birds.
The peak tourism season around Lima's beaches is over, although
many surfers are still venturing into the waters near the capital.
The Agriculture Ministry said preliminary tests on some dead
pelicans pointed to malnourishment. Oscar Dominguez, head of the
ministry's health department, said experts had ruled out bird flu.
"The Health Ministry ... calls on the population to abstain from
going to the beaches until the health alert is lifted," the
ministry said in a statement on its website, along with a
photograph of a dead pelican.
The ministry said officials had so far checked 18 beaches in and
around Lima for dead birds, but gave no details on any findings.
"We're starting from the hypothesis that it's because the birds
are young and unable to find enough food for themselves, and also
because the sea temperature has risen and anchovies have moved
elsewhere," said Deputy Agriculture Minister Juan Rheineck.
A mass pelican death along Peru's northern coast in 1997 was
blamed at the time on a shortage of feeder anchovies due to the El
Nino weather phenomenon.
Some were undeterred by the mysterious deaths.
"We eat fresh fish on the quay of Chorrillos every day, and no
fisherman has died yet, so don't worry, it's nothing," said Gloria
Rivera, a seafood restaurant owner.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino, Caroline Stauffer and Reuters TV;
Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Sandra Maler)