What should you do if you find a stranded cetacean?

Faced with a stranded cetacean, the priority is twofold: report it at once and avoid any direct intervention. Every action counts for the animal’s survival and for the quality of the data collected. The Réseau National Échouage (RNE), the French national stranding network, coordinated by the Observatoire PELAGIS, provides the scientific framework for all operations.

What to do first?

Call 05 46 44 99 10 (PELAGIS) immediately. The line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in mainland France and overseas. You will be put through to an authorised local contact.

Give:

• 📍 The exact location (GPS coordinates if possible)
• ⚠️ The condition of the animal (alive or dead)
• 🐬 The species (see our species profiles)
• 📏 The estimated size
• 👥 The number of individuals
• 📸 Photographs from several angles
• 👤 Your name and a number to call you back

If the animal is dead

Never handle a carcass, even an intact one. Cetaceans may carry pathogens dangerous to humans (brucellosis, leptospirosis and others).

What to do:

• Keep your distance
• Keep walkers and dogs away
• Wait for the RNE contact to arrive

Every carcass is a valuable source of analyses: age, cause of death, contaminants, parasites and more.

If the animal is alive

Never put it back in the water yourself. However well meant, this can doom the animal.

Recommended behaviour:

• Watch from more than 50 metres away
• Avoid noise and sudden movements
• Keep dogs away

What you may do:

• Dolphin or porpoise: keep the skin damp with cloths (avoiding the blowhole)
• Large cetacean: dampen it cautiously if possible, then wait

🔎 See our profiles: long-finned pilot whale, sperm whale, fin whale

A special case: seals

A seal on a beach is not necessarily in distress. It may be resting or moulting. Call if you notice:

• Abnormal thinness
• Apathetic behaviour
• Visible injuries

Never try to move it or touch it.

🔎 See our profile: harbour seal

Map of the French coastline where the RNE contacts operate. Each coastal point marks an area covered by an authorised local responder.

What does the law say?

All marine mammals are strictly protected by:

• the Washington Convention
• the Order of 27 July 1995 (protection of species)
• the Order of 1 July 2011 (prohibition of disturbance)

Only trained and authorised people may intervene (green card holders, mandated services and so on).

Contacts by region

Awareness: a call is worth more than an intervention

The right reflex is to report and not to intervene. Every record, even of a dead animal, brings information that is vital for research and for the conservation of marine species.

Key points:
Call PELAGIS.
Keep your distance.
Do not touch.
Let the experts act.