- On June 25, three people died by drowning on the Aquitaine coast, in the Landes and in Charente-Maritime. A total of six people have drowned since May 27, up from two in the same period last year.
- Stéphanie Barneix, head of the Landes bathing management syndicate, talks about a “deconfinement effect”, an audience less physically fit and less used to waves in the Landes.
- For his part, Bruno Castelle, who works on the accidentology of drownings, emphasizes the poor "perception of risk" and the need to always bathe in the monitored areas.
Three deaths on the coast in one day, last June 25. Five since May 27 in the Landes and six in total on the Aquitaine ocean front, against two last year on the same date. The summer season has not yet started as the Aquitaine rescuers no longer know where to launch their red buoys. So why is the balance sheet so heavy even before the start of the summer?
“We are outside the surveillance period, with a different population not used to our ocean. Of the five people who died in the Landes, none were from the area, ”immediately answers Bruno Castelle, physicist oceanographer who, in his spare time, studies the accidentology of drownings that have occurred on the Gironde and Landes beaches since 2000.
"I don't have scientific measurements, but, yes, there is what one could call a" deconfinement effect ". We have more audiences and a very large swell. And according to the feedback from our rescuers, these many people who come to our beaches must be called to order more frequently. Just out of containment, they are more excited and also physically less fit and, above all, they are not used to our waves. Abounds Stéphanie Barneix, head of the mixed union for the management of Landes bathing (SMGBL). A union that brings together 25 municipalities since 2003.
Never swim "outside the bathing area"
The swimmer and world champion in coastal rescue keeps an eye on the 58 surveillance posts that cover the 110 kilometers of Landes coast. At these positions, up to seven lifeguard lifeguards roam the swimming areas in high season. There are three of them, in Hossegor alone.
The fact remains that on June 25, a man and a woman aged around 70 died while being swept away by a shore break wave while they were walking on the beach of Ondres. On May 27, a mother and her two children who were swimming were swept away by the waves, still south of Hossegor. The mother managed to bring the youngest of her two sons back to the beach, but not the second, 7 years old.
These accidents prompted the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture to recall "all those who practice nautical leisure and the beach with the utmost vigilance". And the SMGBL to hammer that it "should not swim outside the flags". "The last drowning occurred in the bathing area dates back to 1993. This shows that we must respect our security system," advises Stéphanie Barneix. Big waves are tempting, but swimmers don't realize the risks. These tragedies arise from unconsciousness, and from ignorance in 98% of the cases. "
"The water seems regular while it is more dangerous"
In order to "best adapt its intervention equipment and develop its prevention methods", the SMGBL approached the Epoc laboratory (oceanic and continental environments and paleoenvironments) of the University of Bordeaux two years ago to to know a little more about the causes of these drownings. Our specialist in coastal dynamics (waves, erosion, submersion), Bruno Castelle, also works in this laboratory.
The scientist succeeded in recreating the height of the tides, the waves or the wind speed associated with each of the fatal accidents and traumas of the spine brought up by the Landes rescuers. Results: “Deadly drownings occur most of the time at low tide when there are large periods between waves (almost twelve seconds) of two meters in height on average. The water seems regular, welcoming while it is more dangerous, ”summarizes the scientist. And rare are the beach users to have a good “perception of the risk”, advance Bruno Castelle who should lead in 2021 a study on this aspect with, among others, Inrae and the CHU of Bordeaux. A first.
In the meantime, the Epoc laboratory has succeeded in developing the first digital model of waves and bathers, "which makes Australia jealous". Today, he can calculate the time and energy deployed by a swimmer trapped by the waves or a baine to return to the sand. And the result is clear: "There is no miracle solution to get out of a baine that advances by one meter every twelve seconds, much faster than a normal swimmer," concludes Bruno Castelle. The message to get across would be to seek information from rescuers so that you never, but never, find yourself out of the flag, in a tear current area. "
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