'Frustrated' dolphin 'terrorises' tourists on French beach

According to authorities, the animal approaches tourists and tries to rub up against them

A village in France placed a ban on swimming on its beach as a dolphin in heat is scaring tourists and locals by approaching them and trying to rub up against them, The Telegraph reported.

The animal has even tried to prevent several swimmers from getting back to the beach at Landévennec, using its nose to push one woman out of the water and up into the air.

The dolphin that is clearly in a state of sexual arousal, also tries to rub up against kayaks and other small boats.

The three-metre long dolphin has been nicknamed Zafar, roams the waters in the Bay of Brest, amusing tourists with its antics as it visited the beaches and shorelines of Plougastel-Daoulas, Logonna-Daoulas and Landevennec.



Children in sailing schools were in for a treat when the dolphin would suddenly turn up and frolic around their boats.

Zafar sometimes let swimmers grip onto his dorsal fin and go for a ride with him.

But for the last few weeks he changed.  “Swimming and diving are banned on the village shoreline… whenever the presence of the dolphin is confirmed,” said a new bylaw issued last week by the mayor of Landévennec, Roger Lars.

“Approaching within 50 metres of the dolphin is also forbidden,” the new law states.

The new rules have been issued to ensure people’s safety after Zafar’s recent bad behaviour.

“Several swimmers were frightened. He [Zafar] even lifted up a woman swimmer last Thursday with his nose,” Lars said.

Local media have been awash with tales of the dolphin’s less savoury antics, with several going into some detail about aghast tourists being confronted with the animal’s sexual arousal.

The article originally appeared in The Telegraph