The creature from the Etang de Berre only lived for a week. Completed on October 4 with an unequivocal article published on the France Bleu Provence website. “No, there is no monster in the pond!” “, the radio cuts in, shattering the rumor that was growing about the existence of a Provençal Nessie frolicking somewhere in the large expanse of salt water inland to the northwest of Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône). The history of CEB, for “creature of the pond of Berre”, the acronym given by its progenitors, however, had started well.
On September 27, the town of Vitrolles – 34,000 inhabitants between hill and shore – released a press release: “A resident reported seeing a strange phenomenon today,” next to the town’s nautical base, halfway between the runways of Marseille airport and the Berre petrochemical factories. “A type of unidentified creature several meters long, explains the text under the heading of the municipality led by the socialist Loïc Gachon. Neither a fish nor an amphibian. » The witness, to whom the town hall directs the media, recounts the appearance of“a big thing”, a few meters from his windsurfing board.
The rumor is spreading. The local BFM-TV editorial team echoes this. Social networks spread it. 30 kilometers away, Martigues, another town bordering the pond, in turn published a message. This time it is “a resident, accustomed to taking a walk along the pond every day” who spotted “a weird shape”. Martigues, led by former communist senator Gaby Charroux, invites its fellow citizens to “be vigilant” and to transmit to him any new observations.
An artistic creation
At Gipreb, the joint union which, for decades, has been trying to advance the issue of rehabilitating the body of water heavily affected by pollution, the phone is ringing. “People were scared and asked us if they could go out to the pond or walk along the banks,” says Raphaël Grisel, the director. The union teams are reassuring. Testimonies of this style, “a little eccentric”, are common… And no, Gipreb researchers have not spotted anything that even remotely resembles the Loch Ness monster.
Like the neighboring communities and the regional daily Provence, the mixed union is in the know: the monster of the pond of Berre is a creation of Karwan, an association recognized in the world of street theater. In each of his interventions, Karwan relies on artists to raise awareness about the state of the planet and the need to act. Against global warming. “The Etang de Berre seemed to us to be an ideal place to talk about these questions,” underlines Anne Guiot, its director.
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