A dead humpback whale washed up this weekend in Réville, in the English Channel.
The gendarmes intervened to evacuate it because there was a risk that it would explode, the cetacean being filled with gas. A TF1 team went to the site.
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Jean-Mathieu and his son Victor initially thought it was a joke. “She was just behind the rocks, we could see her swollen belly sticking out“, they say in the TF1 news report above. Sunday morning, a whale was spotted, stranded on the reef, 400 meters from Réville beach (Manche). The cetacean measures almost 8 meters long and weighs 9 tons.It's quite rare, even though I know that there are still whales passing through the Channel. It's still very impressive“, testifies Jean-Mathieu. “At first, we couldn't see her very well since she was behind the stones.adds his son. But with the currents, she moved and we could clearly see her swollen belly.“.
The cetacean, dead, is filled with gas. It is then necessary to organize its evacuation to avoid a health risk. “Sulfuric hydrogen is not good for health, neither for fish nor for human beingsexplains Yves Asseline, the mayor of the town, to our camera. We had to move very quickly and the prefecture was perfectly aware of this“.
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This is the first time that a whale has washed up here. In this small village in the English Channel, this discovery raises questions. “The question arises. We are in Normandy, it is November. It's not quite the kind of thing we're used to seeing…”comments a resident.It scares me a little bitreacts another. I would rather see her alive than in bad shape. Let's hope there won't be any more“. The whale is stored out of sight. It will be analyzed on Tuesday to understand the reasons for its death.
