Dead penguins wash up in Brazil

Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro’s tropical beaches, rescuers and penguin experts said Friday.

More than 400 penguins, most of them young, have been found dead on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro state in the last two months, said Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent of the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio.

While it is common here to find some penguins -- dead and alive -- swept by strong ocean currents from the Strait of Magellan, Pimenta said there have been more this year than at any time in recent memory. Scientists are uncertain of the cause.