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Oh Noes! Travel: Dead Baby Penguins Make Us Sad

What a beach bummer: Hundreds of baby penguins have washed up on the famous sands of Rio de Janeiro, sparking a debate about how we might be affecting the livelihood of adorable fuzzy animals.

Typically some penguins every year get caught in currents off Patagonia and Antarctica and wind up dead hundreds of miles away, but this has been a particularly bad year for the Cute Overload crowd. Suspects include overfishing, which forces penguins to swim farther for their food, and immunity-damaging pollution, but it could also be the result of changing weather patterns at the Strait of Magellan.

Luckily, the Brazilian Coast Guard has been keeping a special watch on the coast, rescuing penguins and bringing them to Rio's Niteroi Zoo to recuperate.

Related Stories:
· Dead Penguins Washing Up In Brazil [TIME]
· Penguin and Polar Bear Problems [Jaunted]

[Photo: winklerw]