-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,775742,00.html
Paris dispatch
La nouvelle vague
In the absence of any better stories, a mini-tsunami is making major waves in the
French
press, writes Jon Henley
Jon Henley
Friday August 16, 2002
The Guardian
According to Nice-Matin, the regional rag of the Côte-d'Azur, it's "the event of the
year".
That may be something of a silly-season overstatement, but the 4ft "maxi-vague" (big
wave) that has begun rolling out of the otherwise millpond-like Med at precisely 4pm
every
afternoon has certainly stumped the scientists - and regularly startles the tourists.
"The sea is very calm, and then you begin to see a few ripples," said Olivier, 34, a
fisherman at Cagnes-sur- Mer, at the far end of the mile-long stretch of beach west of
Nice
where the maxi-vague strikes.
"It's kind of like a trembling in the water. Then suddenly the big wave arrives, from
nowhere. The first time, it catches you completely unawares. After that, you're more on
your guard. Now people come especially to see it."
Others are less fortunate. Mobile phones have been lost, towels soaked, paperbacks
drenched. Every afternoon, parents and lifeguards dash into the surf to retrieve dazed
and
bedraggled toddlers knocked off their feet and all but swept away by the phenomenon.
The maxi-vague of the Baie des Anges was first observed two years ago, but seems to
have attained a new ferocity this summer. (Or maybe it's just that the French media
have
absolutely nothing else to report.)
In any case, the pint-sized tsunami has featured large on the TV news and made
headlines
from the tabloid Parisien ("Terror on the Côte d'Azur") to the staid and respectable Le
Monde ("The mystery of the maxi-vague").
The daily cries of surprised sunbathers who planted their parasols rather too close to
the
water's edge have fuelled popular speculation of a raging underwater storm beneath the
placid surface of la grande bleue, or some hitherto unthought-of by-product of global
warming.
"Some have only just stopped short of imagining the arrival hotfoot from Scotland of
the
Loch Ness monster," said Le Monde rather caustically.
Scientists and experts, if convinced there is an altogether more mundane explanation
for
the rogue wave, are nonetheless at a loss to put their finger on it.
"A phenomenon that occurs every day at the same hour cannot be natural," said Maurice
Aubert, professor of oceoanography at the marine university of Cagnes-sur-Mer. "By
definition, a natural phenomenon is irregular and unpredictable."
Coastguards and the government's maritime affairs department have ruled out the most
obvious culprits, the fast ferries that travel between Nice and the Mediterranean
island of
Corsica - although they may have ulterior motives.
"It is clearly a complex phenomenon," insisted Gabriel Nakhleh, a maritime official in
Nice.
"It seems it could have something to do with the weather, but there could be other, as
yet
undiscovered, causes. We are taking this whole phenomenon very seriously."
Environmentalists say that is so much hogwash, and claim the authorities are simply
trying
to play down the undoubted ecological impact of the 40mph fast ferries (known as NGVs,
or
nàvires a grande vitesse) because of the service's commercial importance.
"You just have to look at the timetable," said Marc Lecadre from the Riviera
environment
association. "Every day a fast ferry leaves Nice at 3.30pm and passes about five miles
off
the coast. Half and hour would be just about the time it takes for the wake to wash
ashore."
The NGV ferries are not supposed to crank up to full throttle close to the coast, and
the
maritime affairs affairs department is now under considerable pressure to ask them to
hold
off for a few more miles, to see if the maxi- vague disappears.
But in the meantime, fortunately for a nation deprived of anything remotely resembling
a
serious French news story, the mystery remains. And if you're planning on dipping your
toe
in the Med anywhere near Nice over the next few weeks, you've been warned: stay out of
the sea at teatime.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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