Thirty dead penguins were found washed up on Altona Beach on Wednesday - and no one knows what killed them.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Earthcare St Kilda Penguin Research Team leader Zoe Hogg said she raced over to Altona when she heard of the deaths. She said it was unlikely an oil spill was to blame because the birds did not smell of oil.
"They didn't appear to have anything wrong with them whatever, they looked fit and healthy, and they're dead," she said.
Ms Hogg said live Phillip Island penguins which had been moulting occasionally turned up at Altona Beach.
Officers from the Department of Environment and Primary Industries removed the birds from the beach and took five to be analysed by scientists at La Trobe University.
They expect to have an preliminary finding on what killed the birds within 48 hours.
