On this weekend with summer temperatures, swimming does not promise to be without risk. The coastline of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region has been placed on “maximum alert” for the risk of the formation of baïnes, sources of dangerous sea currents for swimmers, the regional prefecture announced on Friday.
All beaches in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Gironde and Charente-Maritime are affected by this “maximum risk day”, specified the prefecture, which calls on swimmers to stay “between the flags of the supervised posts” .
Six deaths last summer
Natural swimming pools of innocuous appearance, baïnes are responsible for several drownings each year. They form between the beach and a sandbank but their strong currents can quickly carry them out to sea. During the last summer season, six bathers died in bathers in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, according to authorities.
Furthermore, in Gironde, the entry and exit of pleasure craft into the Arcachon basin has been temporarily banned by the authorities due to “exceptional risks for navigation”.
The successive storms of recent months have led to “profound modifications of the sandbanks” at the level of the passes connecting the Arcachon basin and the Atlantic Ocean, explained the prefecture. While it takes time to carry out new depth measurements, navigation in these passes is reserved for professional vessels and nautical rescue equipment.