Naughty dolphin causes beach ban

RENNES: A love-lorn dolphin has prompted a French coastal town to ban bathing on its beaches, fearing people may be hurt by the antics of the overexcited mammal.

Roger Lars, Mayor of Landevennec, on the western tip of Brittany, issued a ban on voluntarily approaching within 50 metres of the dolphin and outlawed bathing and diving from the district’s beaches whenever the animal is spotted in local waters. The move was made on the basis of advice from marine specialists after the visibly excited three-metre dolphin — nicknamed Zafar — bumped against boats and bathers, he said.

“I issued the decree to ensure safety... Several bathers were really afraid — he even lifted up a woman bather with his snout,” Lars told the local newspaper Ouest France. The ban took effect on August 20.

Sami Hassani, a specialist in marine mammals at the Oceanopolis sea park, said the dolphin could accidentally cause “serious injuries” with its tail fin.

But the ban has run into legal problems. Lawyer Erwan Le Cornec said he plans to file a petition to overturn the restrictions on the grounds of administrative over-reach.

“How many accidents involving a dolphin and a human have occurred in the region of Finistere since the two species have lived sideby-side?” he asked scornfully. “None.”

“With this decree the mayor is trying to make out that the dolphin is almost like a ferocious beast, something that is completely unpredictable, able to drown people.”

The mayor, he said, “will overturn the rightly positive approach that people have towards dolphins into a fear of these intelligent animals.”

— AFP

Multilateralism is going through a major crisis which collides with all our diplomatic activity, above all because of US policy. The partner with whom Europe built the new post-world War order appears to be turning its back on this shared history EMMANUEL MACRON French President