Morse trapped in Brittany: came to the English who baptized him! -Lanion

It passes through the port of La Roche Jean in Plagueil (22), Friday, November 25, 2022, will be remembered forever. One in particular Local oyster farmers thought they were blind when they saw it Returning from the tide.

The presence of this animal on our shores, an Arctic species that feeds mainly on molluscs, sucking its flesh, is exceptional and inexplicable. . “It’s not normal because it’s so far from its natural habitat,” says Sami Hassani, director of the Society for the Conservation of Marine Mammals and Seabirds in Brittany, Oceanopolis. On Sunday, December 11, he discovered with interest that the animal had been reported in the Southampton area in the southeast of England. A BBC News article describes the phenomenon

: “He was resting on a small pebbly beach at Calshot beach,” say the journalists.

God of thunder

A security perimeter was established at Plagueil and Dieppe, where he reappeared on Friday 2 December, before crossing the Channel to prevent him from being disturbed. The exact location of its discovery has not been disclosed to protect its privacy. Media and passers-by who crossed his path gave him the diminutive code name Thor, the god of thunder in Norse mythology.

In Brest, thanks to the National Stranding Network Exchange Network, Sami Hassani was able to follow the trail of the animal: “Witnesses have seen it before in the Cotentin near La Hague. A father and his son met him near their boat during a fishing session. Thanks to a network of exchanges woven with the British, the expert from Brest knew he had arrived in England to follow the seals maintained at Brest and across the Channel.

Less lean and on the right track

“It’s always interesting to have news. In the photos, he looks thinner than when we saw him here. He must have been able to eat. To the east of the country, it’s on the right track, and hopefully it goes up to the North Sea. If he returns to the Arctic, we shouldn’t have any news from him,” he said. As Sami Hassani points out, the adage “no news is good news” will be honored then!