Porpoises are starving to death in European waters because of fish shortages linked to ocean warming, according to a new study that warns of mounting fatalities if sea temperatures continue to rise.

Dwindling sand eel stocks in the North Sea have already been blamed for poor breeding success among seabirds. This latest research suggests that marine mammals are also affected.

Previous studies have suggested that sand eels in the North Sea are harmed by rising sea temperatures, because the cold-water plankton they eat are becoming scarcer.

The study team said its findings suggest that other whales, dolphins, and porpoises could be similarly at risk.

Emily Lewis-Brown, marine climate change officer for conservation group WWF-UK, said the effects of dwindling sand eel stocks first became apparent in other North Sea wildlife in 2003, when thousands of chicks starved to death in Scottish seabird colonies.

She noted that the plankton that sand eels eat are being replaced by warm-water species that are not only less nutritious but also bloom at a different time of year. This in turn affects animals that time their reproduction to coincide with peak numbers of sand eels.

"Everything links together in a really neat chain, but parts of this chain are now moving in time and space, so they are peaking earlier or later, or they're moving north," Lewis-Brown said.

"Different parts of the food chain are now mismatched."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070110-porpoises_2.html

[It's finally working! When the other species disappear, we are the undisputed kings of this planet!]