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Environmentalists have reported that at least 60 dead Magellanic Penguins have been washed up on the coast of Uruguay in an incident that is being linked with a collision between two shipping vessels off the coast of Montevideo last week, which resulted in a bunker spill.

Richard Tesore of the SOS-Marine Life Rescue environmental group told Uruguayan news service Observa that another 34 penguins had also appeared off the coast of Uruguay covered in fuel oil, but were still alive.

The dead penguins, which are said to migrate between the southern coast of Argentina and southeast Brazil, are thought to have been swimming through the area affected by last week's bunker spill near Montevideo. Fuel oil leaked from the Greek-registered Syros after it collided with the Maltese-flagged Sea Bird last Wednesday.

The fuel oil trail resulting from the collision was said to be approximately 13 miles long. Oil spill response units have been working to dissolve the fuel oil into the sea and the local authorities have been attempting to control the spill with floating barriers to prevent the leak from reaching Buenos Aires and causing greater damage to the environment.

A spokesperson for the Uruguayan Navy told Observa that it was still too early to say what had caused the death of the penguins.