MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥 When hundreds of birds were found dead along Mexico's Pacific coast earlier this year, experts immediately suspected avian flu.
But the government said Thursday that the warming Pacific ocean currents associated with El Ni帽o, not bird flu, were responsible for the mass die-off.
Mexico鈥檚 Agriculture Department said Thursday that tests on the dead birds revealed they had died of starvation, not flu.
The department said that warming surface water in the Pacific caused by El Ni帽o can drive fish into deeper, cooler water, making it harder for birds to find food.
Most of the dead birds were Sooty Shearwaters, seagulls and pelicans. They died in states ranging from Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, all the way north and west to Baja California.
鈥淎ccording to autopsies carried out be veterinarians and specialized biologists, it was found that the animals died of starvation,鈥 the department said. 鈥淭he most probable cause of this epidemiological event is the warming of the waters of the Pacific due to the El Ni帽o meteorological effect, which causes fish to seek deeper, colder waters, preventing sea birds from catching food.鈥
El Ni帽o is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts weather patterns across the globe.
In May, U.S. 好色tv Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientist Michelle L鈥橦eureux said El Ni帽o had formed this year a month or two earlier than usual, which 鈥済ives it room to grow,鈥 and there鈥檚 a 56% chance it will be considered strong and a 25% chance it reaches supersized levels.
