You just have to observe where the crowd is, on the edge of the Chalutiers basin on the Old Port of La Rochelle, to know where the dolphins are. The people of La Rochelle are still as numerous as ever since Tuesday evening to come and admire the three juvenile common dolphins installed in the waters of the basin. The multiple attempts to get them out this Thursday morning all ended in failure.
Specialists from Pélagis, the marine mammal center, tried with three kayaks and two boats (including the one from the marina) to push them back towards the exit of the basin. “We used steel bars to make an unpleasant sound to show them that this is not the way to go” explains Cécile Dars, the stranding specialist at Pélagis, but the method did not work. “We almost believed it, they went the opposite of us trying to pass under the footbridge and then they turned around and came back to the bottom of the pool“.
“we don’t want to push or stress them out”
When the lock closed, at 11:30 a.m. this Thursday morning, the dolphins were still frolicking in the port, the boats and kayaks were back at the dock. “We stop because we don’t want to persist or stress them out.” commented Cécile Dars, adding that dolphins have heart problems. This suspension of attempts runs until the end of the weekend, the marina having indicated that there is no problem with the dolphins remaining in the basin.
“We are going to set up an observation desk” indicates Cécile Dars, to check the good state of health of the three dolphins by Sunday. They are juveniles (less than 5 years old), one of which has “lots of small lesions on the body”. They will also put in place awareness posters on the port quaysto explain the situation to the ever-increasing public on the quays.
If the dolphins do not leave on their own and are still present at the end of the weekend, Pelagis will attempt another intervention. The teams will make a metal “net”, a “wall” of chains which will be submerged, and whose noise could guide the dolphins towards the exit.
La Rochelle is not the only port visited by dolphins at present. On Wednesday, there were nine in Pornic (four left the port on their own, the firefighters intervened for the others) and one in Quiberon.
