An encounter as unusual as it is astonishing.
On Sunday, the gendarmes of the Ouistreham nautical brigade (Calvados) saw a humpback whale off their coast.
They shared some photos of the cetacean on their social networks.
“During a patrol at sea, after being alerted by a local ornithologist and in connection with the Norman Mammalogical Group, they had the chance to observe the passage of a humpback whale near Hermanville-sur -Mer,” explained the Calvados gendarmerie on its Facebook account.
The cetacean, eight meters long, would be “a young male of around 2 years old” according to experts.
[#MondayMotivation] 🐳 A #whale on the coasts of #Calvados!🐋 It's a small event attended by...
Published by Gendarmerie du Calvados on Monday March 11, 2024
The authorities remind you that it is forbidden to approach the animal within 300 m.
“Beyond the offense committed, this could modify its behavior and endanger the animal by increasing the risk of stranding,” insists the Calvados gendarmerie, which indicates that it will have “particular vigilance” in the next weeks to “ensure the safety” of the whale.
The second in two years
This is a “rare phenomenon” according to the gendarmerie since “the mammal is more accustomed to the waters of the North Atlantic to feed in summer, and to tropical waters in winter to reproduce”.
Despite everything, this is the second time in two years that a humpback whale has been seen off the coast of the Normandy department.
On March 17, 2022, almost two years to the day, another cetacean was seen near Courseulles-sur-Mer, recalls Ouest-France.
In neighboring Brittany, it also happens that whales approach the coasts.
In February 2023, a one-year-old calf returned to the Saint-Malo estuary (Ille-et-Vilaine).
A few months earlier, a 20 m long cetacean was stranded on the island of Sein, while a dead whale was found in Tréguennec, also in Finistère.