A sperm whale stranded on the stage docks
Friday morning, July 21, 2017, on the quay of La Tournelle (5e), in front of Notre-Dame-de-Paris, lies a stranded sperm whale over 18 m long. A security perimeter has been set up and scientists in white coats are working around the dead animal to take samples. The animal belonged to a group of three sperm whales, frightened by military sonar exercises while swimming in the Atlantic. Arriving by mistake in the mouth of the Seine while trying to reach the English Channel, the animal managed to pass through the locks as the boats passed by, only to come to ground a stone's throw from the Paris Cathedral. It was the cries of the sperm whale that alerted a resident, who himself alerted the police, during the night of Thursday to Friday. The cetacean was then towed by a crane before being deposited on the banks of the Seine.
A team from the International Whaling Association was sent to the site to find out how the animal had ended up in Paris. While taking samples, the men in white never stopped watering the animal, which gave off a rotten odour. They also took the opportunity to perform an endoscopy, discovering plastic bags and cans in the sperm whale's stomach. The Belgian scientists have to act quickly, before the animal explodes, and organise the evacuation of the animal.
Passers-by in awe, but not necessarily gullible..
Passers-by - tourists or locals - are in shock. Piled up behind the security gates, some are inclined to "fake" while others believe hard as iron to the reality of the animal. It must be said that the sperm whale is truer than life and gives off a smell of decomposition (tanks releasing the smell of rotten fish). But the sandbank under his body and especially his stranding on the stage docks are a bit hard to swallow ...
And indeed, this incredible production is the work of the Belgian collective Captain Boomer (to be discovered from 21 to 23 July 2017), whose aim is to raise awareness of the disappearance of cetaceans and more generally of the action of man on the environment. This true-to-life experience was to be discovered on the Parisian quays as part of the "Paris l'été" Festival, the 28th edition of which ends on 5 August. Every year, this festival offers artistic and cultural events in the Paris region and was looking for an experience that does not come through posters.
This is not the first time the Belgian collective has staged this production. Indeed, Captain Boomer had already created astonishment in 2016 in Rennes, but also in several European cities in recent years.
