A 13-meter long whale stranded on a beach in Penmarc'h, Finistere, after passing away at sea, AFP learned Tuesday from the Pelagis Observatory.
"An area where dolphins run aground"
"The technical services of the municipality of Penmarc'h warned us this morning that a whale was stranded on the beach in an area where regularly dolphins run aground," said Elénore Meheut, assistant engineer at the Pelagis observatory who lists all strandings of marine mammals.
The animal, a 13-meter fin whale, was not in a state of advanced decomposition. Protected species, it is the second largest mammal in the world after the blue whale. The teams of the national grounding network, authorized to carry out post-mortem examinations on the protected species, will carry out an internal examination and proceed to the rendering of the animal on the beach on Wednesday. It should help to determine the causes of death, collision with a ship or natural death.
Beach prohibited for swimming
The beach was forbidden for bathing for sanitary reasons and a security cordon will be set up during the autopsy.
About six strandings of this species occur each year on the metropolitan shores, according to the Marine Nature Park of Iroise, but not necessarily animals of this size or as a result of collisions. Last June, the carcass of a 17-meter whale in strong decomposition was stranded on a beach on the Crozon peninsula in Finistère.