When hundreds of birds were found dead on the Mexican Pacific coast weeks ago, experts’ main suspicion was that they were new cases of bird flu. But the Mexican government affirmed on Thursday that the cause of these deaths is the warming of the waters of the Pacific Ocean due to the effects of the El Niño meteorological phenomenon.
The Mexican Ministry of Agriculture reported in a statement that autopsies carried out on dead birds found in different posts on the west coast of Mexico revealed that the most likely cause of death had been hunger, not the flu.
And that is directly linked to the climatic phenomenon because when the more superficial water warms up due to El Niño, the fish live deeper, in search of colder waters. And that prevents seabirds from catching them.
Most of the dead birds were Cory’s shearwaters, gulls and pelicans.
El Niño is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that changes weather patterns around the planet.
In May, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climatologist Michelle L’Heureux said that El Niño had formed a month or two earlier than usual this year, “giving it room to grow.” She predicted that there is a 56% chance that it will be considered strong and a 25% chance that it will reach super-giant levels.
The death of seabirds was also reported in Peru and Chile coinciding with El Niño.
