El Niño will exacerbate impact of bird flu on marine animals

El Niño has made landfall on the country’s northern coast, putting authorities on the alert for the National Fisheries Agency (Sernapesca) because of its impact on marine animals affected by bird flu. More than 4,000 animal carcasses are stranded each month.

In this regard, Soledad Tapia, National Director of Sena Pesca, pointed out, “Analyses and forecasts show that the situation is expected to be complicated in the next few months, mainly due to the arrival of El Niño on the northern coast, affecting the food of marine animals. supply.

“Degraded physiological status of samples due to survival of avian influenza, combined with loss of food, could have a synergistic effect on strandings, increasing or maintaining the frequency of these events,” he added.

The latest report on highly pathogenic avian influenza among animals raised at Sena Pesca says more than 18,000 marine animals have died from the disease.

Specifically, from February to July 28, a total of 18,882 specimens were killed, including 16,310 common sea lions, 2,493 Humboldt penguins, 34 chungungos, 27 agouti dolphins, 17 Chilean dolphins and 1 gray dolphin. Only.

Regarding the positive cases, the last one was a sea lion found on 14 July in Punta Arenas, Magellan region. For this reason, Sernapesca has started a special coordinated work with the competent authorities to protect the Chilean Antarctic region, develop restrictions and strengthen the dissemination of biosafety protocols, especially when boarding tourist ships.