Dead Dolphins In Peru: Over 400 Found Mysteriously Washed Up On Lambayeque Region Beaches

The 2014 calendar year has gotten a morbid start in Peru's beaches, as over 400 dead dolphins washed up on the Pacific Ocean beaches in northern Peru. According to technician Jaime de la Cruz, of Peru's IMARPE marine life agency, 220 dead dolphins were found in the Lambayeque region on the northern coast in the last week of January alone, and the remainder washed up during the first three weeks of the month.

The dolphins found in January are currently undergoing autopsies to establish the cause of death. According to de la Cruz, the results of the autopsy exams -- which will focus in on the lungs, kidneys and livers -- will be available in two weeks. The findings of the autopsy will be extremely telling, given that an unusually high number of dolphin deaths were reported in 2012 as well and despite more than 870 autopsies, there was no conclusive cause of death.

As such, experts were left to hypothesizing why so many dolphins in the region were dying and their theories varied, reports The Associated Press, from biotoxins in the ocean to seismic testing. According to Yuri Hooker, director of the marine biology unit at Cayetano Heredia University, who spoke with The Associated Press, most dolphin deaths around the world are due to environmental contamination that takes place when they eat smaller sea creatures that are toxic. Hooker adds that dolphins also die after inadvertently consuming discarded plastic in the sea.