Friday, September 10, 2010

Nature's beauty at a deadly cost.


One of the four beaches near the town of Locquirec.
As tranquil and innocent as the sea may look at low tide, it can quickly become a treacherous and lethal site. Yesterday afternoon, the day after my friend Louise and I gathered cockles on this very same beach, three elderly ladies drowned when they were surprised by the rapidly rising tide. http://fr.news.yahoo.com/64/20100909/tfr-mort-de-trois-femmes-piges-par-la-ma-a2f96e4.html
This time of year, the equinox brings with it the highest tides of the season, to which even the well seasoned locals can fall victim. We saw its effects in Lannion last evening, as the river running through the town center had already crested its banks and was flooding the parking lots and homes which were built along its banks.


The beach in Locquierec, where we gathered cockles, is different in one respect than from the other nearby beaches because is has an estuary, or river, which runs through it and continues out to sea. It is necessary to wade cross this river in order to get to the higher spots where the largest number of cockles lay buried in the sand banks.
Louise studied the tide's forecast before we went out, so that we had our "fishing" time precisely planned. Even at low tide, the estuary's water runs rapidly and can be nearly knee deep in some areas. We finished our fishing quickly while keeping an eye on our surroundings and headed back to the beach within an hour's time, although there were many people who had gone quite a distance away from the shoreline and looked like specks on the horizon from where we were standing.
The water level can be deceiving to those who aren't
careful.

The rain began to fall as we drove away to take a quick tour of the area. During the time that we enjoyed coffee at a friend's house nearby, the tide had already turned and was nearly covering the beach as we drove past it on our way back home.
This morning, I listened in disbelief, as as we learned that 3 ladies in their 70's had lost their lives there yesterday afternoon when they became trapped on a sand bar, between the estuary and the beach. Witnesses there could do nothing to save them. Moments after hearing this news, a neighbor living several houses away, called to tearfully recount the story of her last minute rescue as she nearly became a victim of this same deadly tide.

It's important to remember that we must always respect the power of Nature. Look at it, enjoy it but always remain diligent where one's safety is concerned. You will never get a second chance to relive such a mistake as this.




6 comments:

  1. You take a pig stye built for 200 piggies and you grow 400 in it instead. And one day, bam ! You kill someone with the excrements...

    Somebody for some ham ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Don't know you Marc, but what in the hell are you talking about. Yes, I'll take some ham.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, Marc is referring to the excessive amount of pigs which are raised in Brittany and the refuse from the pigs is high in some sort of chemical (can't remember) that then winds up being dumped out into the water around the coast. Because of this, there is an awful lot of algue that grows and covers the beaches. This lets off a toxic gas that has been known to kill animals and people who are walking on the beach.....nice hun?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I thought of you saying you were going to do some pêche à pied when I heard about this! What a tragedy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Don't know you Marc, but what in the hell are you talking about. Yes, I'll take some ham"
    Don't know you either but what in the earth (hell is a bit silly...) are you talking about ? It was written as an explanation that overloading the population of pigs is a reason why "we" (except you...) have deadly beach. Try to read a bit about what is surrounding you before to go for the balls ! And don't adress me ever that way ! Sorry for that Sandy. But I have no tolerance for dumb people who takes avantage of a blog to bully others ! F...!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I will delete this comment tomorrow or so.

    ReplyDelete