The young whale returned to the rancid by one of the valves of the tidal wave, and has since struggled to find its way to the open sea. A rescue operation is underway.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
A seven-meter long humping whale has been stuck since Thursday, February 9 in the Rance estuary, near Saint-Malo. An operation is underway on Friday to try to guide it towards the sea. “The whale goes back and forth between the dam and Plouër-sur-Rance”, about ten kilometers inside, told the ‘Agence France-Presse, Thierry Buanic, president of the Naturalist association Al Lark, which coordinates the operation. “The absolute priority is to bring out the whale from the estuary,” he insists.
The young whale returned to the Rance by taking advantage of the opening of a valve of the tide factory, in Ille-et-Vilaine, and since then has struggled to find its way to the sea, despite several reopening of the Dam during Thursday. However, there is no particular concern for his health.
A seven-meter whale is in the #RANCE estuary after having crossed the MARÉMO factory dam… https://t.co/cmgdme6jej of
“We hope that the whale will follow the direction of the current”
“It is in good shape, not at all shot down. The main problem is the level differential between the rancid and the sea. So since this morning [Friday] 9 am, we opened all the valves in large From the Marémotor factory “, six in total. Each is ten meters wide for fifteen meters high, explains Mr. Buanic. “The level of the rancid will approach that of the sea and at the same time, it creates a current which leads to the sea, from the rancid to the outside. We hope that the whale will follow the direction of the current to go up towards its natural environment. “
Several nature protection associations participate in the operation with boats, as well as the maritime gendarmerie and scientists from the National Museum of Natural History. We know little about the animal, “which seems to be between 7 and 10 meters long and would therefore be rather young. We do not know if it is a male or a female, which she does there” , advance Mr. Buanic.
According to the president of the Assocaition, there is nothing extraordinary to what a humpback whale circulates in the English Channel, even if they tend to bypass this area, due to intense maritime traffic. If it happens that dolphins two or three meters long engage in the river, it is on the other hand the first time that a humpback whale has been going on, since the commissioning of the tide factory in 1966.