Hundreds of mysterious dead dolphins in Peru

Peruvian officials announced yesterday that they are investigating the cause of nearly 900 dead dolphins and washed over the north coast for more than four months.

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Experts measure a dolphin's body
Peru's northern coast on April 11. (Photo: AFP)

From January to now, nearly 900 dolphin carcasses, of which 95% are bottlenose dolphins, continuously drifted to a coast about 170km in northern Peru. Officials suspect dolphins die mass due to a virus. But they did not rule out the possibility of water pollution and other factors causing the culprit, AFP reported.

'This is not the first time a series of dolphin deaths have occurred. Similar cases happened in Peru, Mexico and the United States, ' said Gabriel Quijandria, Peru's Deputy Minister of Environment, speaking on radio.

Quijandria added that, in previous collective deaths, the culprit was a virus. It causes a number of infectious diseases - such as cough, measles, and cholera - in dolphins.

Massive dolphins died in the Gulf of Mexico is also a problem that is causing American officials headache, because until now scientists have not found the cause of their loss. More than 700 dolphins landed on the coast bordering Louisiana and Texas of the US from February 2010 to the end of March 2012, of which 95% died. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is investigating the case.