Why Are Chilean Beaches Covered With Dead Animals?

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Why Are Chilean Beaches Covered With Dead Animals?

Warm waters have turned the country's once-pristine coast into a putrid sight

from Smithsonian Magazine

A Chilean beach–before. (William Muzi (Flickr/Creative Commons))

By Erin Blakemore

smithsonian.com
May 4, 2016

Compared to other countries, Chile is almost all coast, and that geographical fluke means that the country is known for its beautiful beaches. But that reputation may be on the wane thanks to a new sight on Chilean shores: dead animals. Lots of them. Heaps of them, in fact. As Giovanna Fleitas reports for the Agence France-Presse, the South American country’s beaches are covered with piles of dead sea creatures—and scientists are trying to figure out why.

Tales of dead animals washing up on shore are relatively common; after all, the ocean has a weird way of depositing its dead on shore. But Chile’s problem is getting slightly out of hand. As Fleitas writes, recent months have not been kind to the Chilean coast, which has played host to washed-up carcasses of over 300 whales, 8,000 tons of sardines, and nearly 12 percent of the country’s annual salmon catch, to name a few.

Wave of dead sea creatures hits Chile's beaches https://t.co/DhQsCjql4V pic.twitter.com/QpX6iRPrLl

— AFP news agency (@AFP)

May 4, 2016
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-are-chilean-beaches-covered-dead-animals-180958998/?no-ist

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Because shhhhhh... and probably because people should begin reading their Bibles and Qurans.