For two days in New Aquitaine, you will have to content yourself with looking at the ocean and not setting foot there. Swimming on the beaches of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Gironde and Charente-Maritime is indeed “strongly discouraged” due to a “very high” risk of baïnes, announced the prefecture of the region.
Natural pools of innocuous appearance, baïnes are responsible for several drownings each year. They form between the beach and a sandbar, but their strong currents can quickly drag them out to sea.
A risky situation at least until Monday
According to the prefecture, which calls on bathers to “the greatest caution”, a “very high” risk of baïnes is confirmed for this Sunday (5 on a scale of 5) and Monday (4 on a scale of 5) on the entire coastline of New Aquitaine.
This baïnes alert system, based on Météo-France data and expert opinions on the dangerousness of the currents, has been in place for a year.