It is a spectacle which extends the great Maritime Festivals, which took place last weekend in the heart of the maritime city. Three young dolphins entered on June 25, around 7 p.m., in the Tralutiers basin of the marina, at the foot of the aquarium. Several dozen people crowd around to try to observe them and silence is generally required. They look happy here,”
underlines Mireille who came with her granddaughter to show her these cetaceans. This kind of introduction happens often, especially in summer, reassures Fabien Demaretassistant engineer at Pelagis, in charge of strandings. There are no major risks for them, apart from the fact that it is a transit zone exposed to pollution. But here, in the Chalutiers basin, it is not a dry port at low tide. They will always have water with a depth of 6 m.
If dolphins have already been observed in the La Rochelle port, this is a first in this basin, which operates with a lock. We already had the dolphin
Randy a few years ago, and we succeeded, in the presence of the marine mammal research center, in encouraging it to leave the Old Port,”
relates Patrice Bernier, the main harbor master of the marina.
Failed expulsion attempts
The objective for Pelagis, the scientific observatory, laboratory of the University of La Rochelle and the CNRS, is to ensure that these three cetaceans return to the sea as quickly as possible. This morning, two light boats and kayaks were at work on the water to try to expel the dolphins.
Pelagis observers, maritime park staff and port staff used different methods to lead them to the exit. They got into the water, then tapped under the water to guide them, but at the last moment, when the dolphins were close to the exit, they turned around,”
says Fabien Demaret. The operations had to end at 11:30 a.m., when the lock closed. We are going to leave them alone to see if they come out on their own, otherwise at the beginning of next week we will use 6 m nets weighted with weights to bring them towards the exit,”
he adds.
Dolphins rescued in Oléron
Yesterday, according to information collected by Pelagis, nine dolphins got lost in the port of Pornic, one in Quiberon and eight in Oléron, in the Moëze-Oléron reserve. All were able to return to sea on their own, except in Oléron where three of them were found stranded and had to be rescued by firefighters. They brought them back off the coast of Boyardville and all are safe and sound,”
Pelagic ajoute.
For the three rebels from the maritime city, the authorities strongly recommend not to approach them, nor to go into the water. Until then, it’s time for contemplation and the three dolphins seem to love it.
