RIO DE JANEIRO — About 30 large dolphins beached themselves in northeastern Brazil during the weekend, and reports Monday said at least seven died.
The dolphins, known as false killer whales, ran aground early Sunday on the shallow sands of Upanema beach in Areia Branca, roughly halfway between the cities of Fortaleza and Natal.
Images distributed by the environmental police of Rio Grande do Norte state show beachgoers and passers-by attempting to aid the animals.
O Globo newspaper reported Monday that at least seven of the animals died, six of them on the Upanema beach.
The paper said it was not immediately known why the animals beached themselves, but biologists were examining whether the pod leader might have been ill. Another hypothesis is that the dolphins were pursuing a school of fish and were trapped on Upanema’s high sand banks. O Globo said it was among the largest collective beachings in Brazil in recent decades.
