British holidaymakers have been warned to be on their guard against a thick blanket of slimy ‘killer seaweed’ suffocating the beaches of northern France.
The alert comes after the carcasses of 31 wild boars were found on one beach on the Brittany coast.
All are thought to have been killed by toxic gas – as dangerous as cyanide – released by the seaweed as it rots.
Beaches around the Morieux river estuary, where the dead boars were found, are popular with tens of thousands of British holidaymakers every summer.
Lifeless: One of the dead boars lies in the bay of Saint-Brieuc today at the mouth of the Gouessant estuary in Brittany, bringing to 31 the number found this month, floating in the water or washed up
The warning was issued by Brittany’s Cote d’Armor regional government which said the potentially deadly seaweed was ‘above a health alert level, but below severe danger level’.
Seaweed – which is a form of algae - is normally found on most northern French beaches. However, it releases hydrogen sulphide when it comes into contact with nitrogen waste flowing to the sea from intensive pig farms.
Workers for the Office National de la Chasse et des Forits removes one of the boars from the beach which has been closed for safety
Two years ago a council worker on a seaweed clearing team was poisoned by gas and taken to hospital in a coma. A horse-rider also passed out and his horse died in 2009 after inhaling toxic gas.
Brittany marine biologist Alain Menesguen said: ‘This is a very toxic gas, which smells like rotten eggs. It attacks the respiratory system and can kill a man or an animal in minutes.
via British holidaymakers warned as ‘killer seaweed’ strikes Brittany beaches | Mail Online.
