NEARLY 9,000 sea lions, penguins, otters and small cetaceans have died in an avian flu outbreak battering Chile’s north coast, the South American country’s fisheries service said yesterday. 

Since the beginning of 2023, more than 7,600 sea lions, 1,186 Humboldt penguins – an endangered species that breeds only in Chile and Peru – and several otters, porpoises and dolphins have been found dead along the coast, the Sernapesca service said in a statement.