Baby Penguins from Antarctica and Patagonia are turning up dead or in poor health on the beaches of Brazil.

According to Eduardo Pimenta, superintendent for the state coastal protection and environment agency in the resort city of Cabo Frio, over 400 baby penguins have been found in Rio de Janeiro in the past couple months.

While strong currents from the Strait of Magellan often sweep penguins, dead and alive onto the shores of Rio, Pimenta says that this year there have been significantly more than in recent memory.

There are different theories as to why there is such a significant increase in the number of penguins being rescued and found.

Pimenta blames pollution, "Aside from the oil in the Campos basin, the pollution is lowering the animals' immunity, leaving them vulnerable to funguses and bacteria that attack their lungs."

Thiago Muniz, a veterinarian at the Niteroi Zoo blames overfishing. He says that overfishing means that penguins must swim further away from shore to find food "and that leaves them more vulnerable to getting caught up in the strong ocean currents."

Niteroi is the state’s biggest zoo and has treated 100 penguins this year, many of which are drenched in petroleum, likely from the Campos oil field that supplies most of Brazil and is right offshore. Muniz says that they haven’t found other pollutants on the penguins, but is quick to point out that dead penguins aren’t brought in for treatment.

Erli Costa, a biologist associated with Rio de Janeiro's Federal University says weather patterns could be the problem: "I don't think the levels of pollution are high enough to affect the birds so quickly. I think instead we're seeing more young and sick penguins because of global warming, which affects ocean currents and creates more cyclones, making the seas rougher."

Costa says that most of the penguins found are babies right out of the nest and unable to contend with the strong ocean currents.

Brazil airlifts rescued penguins back to Antarctica and Patagonia each year.