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Finistère: why are dozens of dead fish washing up on the beach?
Finistère: why are dozens of dead fish washing up on the beach?
(France 2)
For several days, dozens of conger eels have been washing up on the beaches of Concarneau (Finistère). A worrying phenomenon that could be caused by algae.
Macabre spectacle on the beach of Concarneau (Finistère). In a pestilential odor, conger eels have washed up, dying or already decomposing. In front of all the beaches of the city, barriers indicate the ban on swimming. Since Friday August 23 on the southern coast of Finistère, more than 200 corpses have been counted.It makes me very sad“, observes a passer-by facing the many dead fish. Other residents are worried about this phenomenon.
Researchers quickly ruled out the hypothesis of a fishing dump. These sedentary fish, which look like large eels, live in the rocks at the bottom of the water. They would have died of asphyxiation due to the proliferation of algae caused by the bad weather of recent weeks. The rains would have encouraged the development of microalgae, which as they decompose, would massively consume the oxygen contained in the water according to a specialist. This phenomenon could intensify with the warming of the oceans, which reduces the oxygen level in the water. Several hundred kilos of conger eels have already been collected.
