40-ton Dead Whale Beached herself in Normandy

NOT A WHALE OF A TIME

On Tuesday 2nd March, a dead whale weighing 40 tons and measuring 18 meters ran onto a beach in the North West of France, in Normandy, near Granville(see map). She was discovered some days before by a fisherman as she was floating and drifting off Chausey Island.Thousands of onlookers, many policemen and some journalists were waiting for her as she finally ran onto the sand.

A 40-ton dead whale ran onto the beach of St Martin de Bréhal (Manche) on Tuesday 2nd March(see map).Despite the bad weather conditions, thousands of curious people, journalists, scientists from the GECC(Groupe d'études des Cétacés du Cotentin ) and policemen were waiting for her as she finally ran onto the sand at night. The causes of her death are still unknown. Did she collide with a boat ? Did she die of a natural death or of pollution ?

On Monday 1st March in the morning, a fisherman sailing between Chausey and Les Minquiers (see map) discovered the dead whale. He immediately warned the semaphore from Granville and the GECC. Her slow drift was then very closely followed because it could be dangerous for other boats. The animal was drifting in the south-west of Chausey towards Granville, pushed by a south current and a strong wind. On Tuesday morning, the whale ran onto some rocks in Coudeville. She grazed herself (see picture) but as the tide was coming in, she finally came free and started drifting again towards St Martin de Bréhal where she finally ran onto the beach.

On Wednesday 3rd March, the vets and researchers from the GECC examined, observed and took samples from the whale. But the results of this public autopsy will not be known until 2001. The thin-back whale was in a state of slow decomposition and a safety barrier was established around her for safety reasons. Thousands of people flocked onto St Martin de Bréhal beach  to observe and admire the gigantic mammal.

On Wednesday evening, the local authorities from the Manche and the town council from Bréhal finally decided to dynamite the whale off Chausey island. There were three solutions, the first one was to call on a quartering company which would cut the rorqual into pieces but the whale was too big. The second one was to keep the skeleton. In fact, the GECC would have liked to keep the whale's skeleton for pedagogical reasons and the two conservateurs from the museum of Granville and the museum of Tatihou were very interested. But it was not possible for financial reasons. Eventually, the mayor from Bréhal was told on Wednesday at 6.30 p.m that the decision to dynamite the whale had been taken by the local authorities.

On Thursday, as the tide was coming in, a bulldozer dug a trench in the sand around the whale in an attempt to bring her back into the sea. Unfortunately the waves were not strong enough to carry her. They used a cable to drag her with two boats a trawler and the rescue boat from the SNSM(Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer) were necessary for this operation.The first time the cable broke but in a second attempt they finally managed to drag her back into the sea.

After the whale was towed off the coast of Chausey, the bomb experts and the divers from the French Navy based in Cherbourg used more than 500kg of dynamite to dispose of the whale. Two attempts were necessary-  250kg were used  for the first attempt but it failed so they decided to make a second attempt which finally succeeded.

After the dynamiting of the whale on Thursday evening, several pieces of her corpse and her skin were washed up onto the beaches of Granville and Donville. The inhabitants of Donville found a piece of 12 meters long on the beach on Friday morning. Another piece weighing betweeen 200 and 300 kilos also came back onto the beach. Her jaw was found on the beach by the mayor of Donville on Friday. He was upset but the jaw was finally given to a young researcher. In Granville, other pieces were also  washed up. To get rid of the pieces, they had to call on a quartering company.

Article écrit par la Quatrième MONET

Jérémy, Valentin, Maxime, Christophe.

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