In the English Channel, a dead whale found stranded in Val de Saire

ANIMALS – A humpback whale has washed up on the coast of the English Channel, announced the Cotentin cetacean study group (GECC) this Sunday, November 10 on Facebook. The animal, dead, was spotted on rocks in the Val de Saire, an area which is not accessible on foot.

“The rising tide, currents and wind will likely move the carcass”then specified the GECC. You should definitely not approach the animal. “in order to avoid any risk of disease transmission”warned the same source.

There is also a risk of explosion, warned in West France Fabrice Leblond, president of the National Sea Rescue Society (SNSM) of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue: “It is filled with gas, the risk of body explosion is not excluded, with the health effects that would follow. »

Causes of death unknown

The mayor of Réville Yves Asseline spoke to France Bleu, and said he was warned around 10 a.m. of the presence of the cetacean. “ It is a young one, five meters long and weighing around two tonnes. We have already had dolphins washed up on our coasts, seals, but to my knowledge never a whale. he emphasizes. West France speaks for its part of an animal 8 meters long and 9 tons.

At the end of the day, the whale was stranded on a reef 400m from the beach. It was then towed to the hold of Jonville (name of a district of Réville), indicated France 3. Around 8 p.m., a helicopter was flying over the area, and a crane was on site to transship the whale into a truck -tight dumpster, specified West France.

At France Bleu, the president of the GECC Gérard Mauger explained that “The numbers of humpback whales have been increasing in number for forty years after having been greatly decimated by episodes of hunting. They migrate to tropical waters in winter to give birth and it is during this migration that they can pass near our coasts. The causes of the death of the whale stranded in Réville are not yet known.

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