A seven-meter-long humpback whale stranded on the beaches of Carnon, near La Grande-Motte, in Hérault, where it was discovered dead.
“As soon as we arrived, she was already dead.
Before running aground, she had not been spotted at all, which is quite improbable, ”explained Élodie Sene, animal groomer at the Seaquarium in Grau-du-Roi and member of Gecem (cetacean study group in Mediterranean).
“I've never seen it, it's the first time I've seen it in the Mediterranean,” she added.
The carcass of the animal was evacuated under the surprised gaze of the walkers.
PASCAL GUYOT
With a total length of seven meters, the animal was evacuated by the technical services of the city.
It will be stored in a technical area while waiting for an autopsy to be carried out on Thursday morning in order to understand the reasons for this stranding.
The humpback whale is not one of the species regularly observed in the Mediterranean, unlike the fin whale.
For several weeks, attention had focused on a lost gray whale in the Mediterranean, whose chances of finding its environment - the North Pacific - were extremely low.
Entering this closed sea at the level of Morocco, it cut from North Africa to Italy, went up the Italian and French coasts.
The Spanish press reported a few days ago its presence in Mallorca, very weakened.