Mystery of dolphin and pelican deaths

Vultures eating a dolphin carcass

In just the past few days, more than 500 pelicans have died on the northern coast of Peru - in the same region where over 800 dolphins washed ashore recently. The Peruvian government says that it is launching an investigation and that it is “deeply worried.” According to a preliminary report, no evidence points to the pelicans dying at sea but rather on the beach. The Peruvian Maritime Institute has also found the carcasses of 54 boobies (a type of sea bird), a turtle and five decomposed sea lions.

"When you have something this large, my gut would tell me that there's something traumatic that happened" Sue Rocca, a marine biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, told CNN. She raised a number of possibilities as to what could have killed the animals, including acoustic trauma.    
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-30/americas/world_americas_peru-pelican-deaths_1_morbillivirus-birds-ministry?_s=PM:AMERIC

"The symbolism of the mother pelican feeding her little baby pelicans is rooted in an ancient legend which preceded Christianity. The legend was that in time of famine, the mother pelican wounded herself, striking her breast with the beak to feed her young with her blood to prevent starvation. Another version of the legend was that the mother fed her dying young with her blood to revive them from death, but in turn lost her own life." [Father William Saunders]

More pelican symbolism: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0682.html