Hundreds of eels wash up on Brittany beach: area closed off
Around 200 have been estimated to have washed up in the past two days alone
Hundreds of conger eels have washed up on beaches in Brittany in the past few days (stock image for illustration only)
Credit: mauritius images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
A beach in Brittany is closed after hundreds of sea eels washed up on the shore, with sea sports and walks along the beach prohibited until further notice.
The beach at Concarneau in Finistere has been closed since Sunday, August 25, due to “a significant number of “stranded conger eels washed up” on the sand, said France Bleu Breizh Izel. The number is thought to be around 200.
The mairie of Concarneau has issued a decree temporarily banning “water sports, swimming, walking and all other leisure activities” on the beach, as the eels could present a “health risk”.
‘Never-ending clear up’
The phenomenon has also recently happened on beaches in Fouesnant, Bénodet, and Combrit. Local mairies have been forced to close the beaches and launch rapid clean-up operations.
“We bring a machine to transport them, we use forks and shovels, and we take them to an abattoir,” said François Besombes, deputy mayor in charge of sustainable development in Concarneau, to France Bleu Breizh Izel.
“The flow is never-ending, and when we clean up on one shore, others become stranded on another. We are in the process of expanding our team of cleaners,” he said.
For the moment, the mayors are not sure what is causing the phenomenon.
“We cannot explain this sudden phenomenon, which has been observed since Saturday,” said mayor of Bénodet, Christian Pennanech.
The mairie team in Concarneau has contacted the commune’s Muséum d'histoire naturel to “better understand the causes of this phenomenon, and evaluate its possible duration”, it said.
Low oxygen levels a ‘working hypothesis’
One researcher said there could be several different explanations for the incidents.
“[Eels] are very common in Brittany, live on rocky and sandy bottoms, and can weigh up to 100 kilos,” said Samuel Iglesias, senior lecturer at the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, to France Bleu Breizh Izel.
He said that he could rule out dumping by fishermen, as the “volume of stranded eels is too large and widely spread”; post-reproduction death, as the “species tends to reproduce offshore and there are no larvae”, and the washed up eels are not in their “post-spawning form”.
More likely, he said, is that the eels are a victim of anoxia (the dropping of oxygen levels in the water), a phenomenon caused by the proliferation of micro-algae.
Read also: Toxic microalgae warning: French hotspots, symptoms and how to treat
“At the moment, we have a lot of brown water on the coast,” said Mr Iglesias. “Some of them can create toxins and cause mortality. This is a working hypothesis.”
Tests are being done on algae samples. Other species of sea life were also reported dead on Monday, August 26, the expert said, pointing even more strongly to “intoxication or anoxia, rather than disease”.
