Paris is one of the cities with more tourists than its own citizens. It has many places where tourists want to spend their time. Even the locals like to visit those places. One of the places is Saint-Martin canal with its beautiful view where people like to have an evening stroll.
Canal like this gets dirty often because of all the visitors. The government decided to get it clean this time. The canal is located in between beautiful trees which part it from city’s hustle. This canal was cleaned after 15 years, and people cleaning it were shocked to find things at its bottom.
1. The Canal
The Saint-Martin Canal looked the same from the outside, all beautiful and glorious. Nothing looked out of order, but people who knew it better knew that it was time for its clean-up. All the pollution made it a bit hazy. The canal is situated between lines of trees which separates it from the city rush. It gives that majestic look where everyone wants to have a stroll in the evenings.
There could be found many things beneath that shiny water. Some things are daily life stuff or some trash, but some are historical objects. Read more to find out about the secrets of the canal.
2. The cleaning
Heavy machinery was arrived to clean the canal. A temporary dam was made by the workers so that they could clean the canal by sectioning it. The workers had to make the dam before the drainage. All the machinery and construction disturbed the beauty and peace of the area. People would gather around to watch the cleaning process.
The typical peaceful environment of the canal was turned into a construction site with all those giant cranes. People watching were enjoying and making jokes. Saying to each other, “I am big enough to lift this,” although the slabs were not that small.
3. Fishes in Water
The cleaning process was not as easy as it seemed. The workers did not just have to clean the water; their job was to take care of the fish as well. The fishes were the habitants of the canal, and it was essential to clean the water for them as well, and not just for aesthetics. They started the drainage after removing most of the water.
They still left some for the aquatic life. After the removal of water, the worker begins removing the fishes. They simply use their hands and long nests to catch them rather than using some technology or heavy machinery.
4. Saving Aquatic Life
Clean-up of places like this where wildlife is situated is very tricky. The animals need to be transported to a safe place before starting the cleaning of the area. The same was the case for this canal. Fishes were transported to some safe place to be affected by a change in the environment.
It was a large batch of fish that was transported from this canal. More than 4.5 tons of fish were collected from the water and transported to a safe place. Health analysts were called to check on the fish. They were counted and sorted by their species afterward.
5. Calculating The Quality Of Water
The fishes were examined, counted and their health was also checked. They were transported to a safe environment. They used the fish’s general health to read the quality of water of the canal. It also provides some insight into the surrounding of the channel. It helps them to analyze the water’s different factors.
These methods are used by some marine biologists as well. It gives them an idea about the water and information about the living lives in that water. An unusual find was a carp weighing more than 20 kg that was discovered in the Saint-Martin canal by the workers.
6. Secrets Within The Water
The workers started the cleaning of the canal once the fishes were sent to a safe place. One can find many things in a canal as big as Saint-martin while cleaning it. Some mysterious things could be found in them.
The canal was getting cleaned after many years, so it was apparent to come against some weird stuff, but no one was ready to face what they found at the bottom of the canal. This canal saw many seasons going by, and every single one affected it. The water of the Saint-martin canal severed as a home for the marine life in it.
7. Road Cones
You can imagine things deep in the water near it, like leaves from the trees, some trash from passing by people, but a road cone was an unusual discovery from the canal, especially with no road near the area. It might have come with extreme wind, or maybe some youngsters had decided to have little fun with traffic cones and may have thrown them in the canal water. It may not be that unusual for a traffic cone to end up at the bottom of a canal. But it still is not something to be found on every clean-up session.
8. A Shopping Trolley
In the process of cleaning the canal, lots of things were found. There were some strange things among common trash, like this shopping trolley. This shopping trolley was thought to be down there for quite a long time. It was all rusted and had moss grown on it. It was strange to find such a thing in this canal as there was no shopping center near.
The workers thought that this might be the work of some teenagers. They might have stolen it, and it would have fallen into the water. They believed that it might have belonged to a homeless person.
9. Bad For Wildlife
It was shocking for all the workers to see how much weird and dangerous stuff was found there. Some things were just odd to believe to be found in a canal, like an office chair. It looked like some angry office worker had thrown it in water.
The chair was totally intact and could have been helpful. People did not think about the stuff they throw that could be useful for someone in need. They also did not know about disturbing the environment and affecting the wildlife. We should be careful about these places. Marine lives are dependent on the cleanness of the water as well.
10. A Vélib?
It looked like someone had just thrown their Vélib because they could not find a place to stand it on the station. The bicycle was found deep in the water. It was all rusted, but apart from that, it was surprisingly undamaged even its front basket was in place.
It was something to ponder that how a bicycle ends up at the bottom of the canal. It could be a possibility that someone has fallen into the water while riding their bike. They must have left the bicycle behind and tried to swim away. It must have been long ago because the bicycle was all rusty and muddy.
11. Hundreds Of Bikes
The Saint-Martin canal looked like a parking station for bikes. It was hard to believe how many bikes were found in it. The number was not ten or twenty; it was in hundreds. They were primarily found in the same geographical area, the 5th and 6th arrondissements of Paris.
It was amusing for the workers to find out that many bikes, like do people not know they were not water cycles? It was also a sad moment t see so much junk down there. People around were not giving any thought to the importance of the canal water and its cleanness.
12. Every Model
It was not the end; there were more bikes found as well. It was impressive how many types of models of bikes were found; it was precisely 98 models. They were mostly the Velib bikes that use to run the local roads of Paris.
There are stands for these local bikes all around the city, but it still looked like everyone decided to just throw them in the canal water after using. More than ten or twenty models would have been something to be shocked on; we wonder what would have been the worker’s reaction when they found 98 models of a bicycle?
13. All The Garbage
It was a moment of shame to see how filthy the canal was. It was like everyone thought it is an excellent place to dump everything in. There could be seen some tables as well. Why would someone throw tables in the canal? All those stuff is severe damage to the water and the wildlife. It is affecting the whole ecosystem, and we are not giving it any thought.
The cleaning department removed so much junk from the canal, but more than a lot was still there. One could think that they will find some bottles or food trash down the water but seeing all those bicycles and tables was distressing.
14. Big Issues
The workers were facing the fear of the fishing dying or some species going extinct. It was a relief to see the fishes were okay. It did not divert the threat to wildlife, though. The fishes were living in the contaminated water for very long. So many strange things were seen in the canal water.
A mattress, a chair, and a shopping bag could all be seen in the room. People did not appear to be taking their broken furniture to be repaired or to be disposed of properly at the waste disposal center. They simply enjoy tossing them into the canals of Paris.
15. Unknown Objects
This was another thing to the long list of weird things. It looked like a hand trolley but still not in a condition to be named. It was another thing to consider from the “home objects” category, another thing to think about how it ended up in the bottom of the canal.
This thing may have been transported somewhere, but it looked like it never reached its destination. There was so much stranger stuff found down there which were not supposed to be down there in the first place. The canal was not near any shopping center, but things from them were still found in it.
16. It Not All
Bicycles were not the only transportation found at the bottom of the canal. Yes, there were two scooters found as well. They were in good shape, but no one knew for how long they have been down there. For how much trouble that was for the environment of the canal, it was hilarious for the workers to find such things.
They could not help but wonder if someone had fallen into the water while riding it or just let their scooter have a dive. It was also strange to find them in there. How can someone just allow their scooter to sink in the canal?
17. Pile of Vélibs
Hundreds of bikes were found on most of the ground of the canal. It was already a shocking sight, but then the workers came against another appalling site. There was a pile of bicycles in one area. It looked like a pile of metal dumped in waste disposal. All the workers were in thoughts about why someone would throw that many bikes in water.
One of the locals shared his thoughts with the interviewer from The Guardian newspaper. He said, “It’s like some kind of weird underwater treasure…I can’t believe how many vélibs there are. I guess they were stolen and thrown away afterward. It’s weird.”
18. Unidentified Block
Amongst all the weird stuff, there was another out of place thing: a concrete block. It was certainly not part of the canal, that much was clear. It was different than the concrete used for this canal. It was like this canal was hidden all the missing treasures. All strange things were found down there did not belong to it or the surroundings.
On some examination, they wonder that it looked like a sample of “Numerobis” stones. They were thrown into the river Nile by order of Amonbofis. This one looked like it lost its way to the Paris canal somehow.
19. Polluting The Water
Apart from the strange and weird things, there was so much trash in the canal’s bottom. Beer cans and beer bottles were thrown like it was a trash can. People are utterly unconcerned about the state of the water environment.
It is highly hazardous to the living creatures that inhabit it. All of the water pollutions have a significant impact on the ecosystem and human health and well-being. Laziness will get them into trouble, but they will still refuse to use all the garbage cans around town and will instead throw their trash into the water as they pass by.
20. Poor Fish
No one could know the trouble the fishes had to face every day because of this much trash in their home. All the water was polluted when workers started draining it. The ground was covered with all the litter people threw in it. The Saint-Martin canal is located in one of the busiest places. There are always people visiting this beautiful area.
They spent some time admiring the view. The hurtful part is when they leave the place dirty and throw stuff in the canal water. Everything sank down the water and covered the ground, making it difficult for the fishes to live and move around.
21. A Wakeup Call
The situation of the Saint-Martin canal was alarming. The amount of trash collected was insanely a lot. It was beautiful scenery for people to enjoy and clean home for its habitants. It was a shame how people were taking it for granted and not taking care of it.
They were just throwing all the trash in it. All of the filth, debris and bizarre items serve as a wake-up call to the community. If we do not act now and stop polluting the water in this manner, the situation will deteriorate and become a problem that we will not be able to solve in the future.
22. Toxicity
The trash down the water would not just affect its beauty or aesthesis. We are doing more than that. All the garbage sitting at the bottom of the canal starts to release toxic chemicals. That does not only danger the water but the surroundings as well. We must stop throwing things in water just because we are too lazy to throw them in a garbage can.
This one polluted canal can lead to the pollution of many more that are connected to it. The trees surrounding the area also will not be safe from it. And the people who are responsible for all this mess in the first place are not safe as well.
23. Facts
These all are not just some talks so that people can stop throwing things in the water. They are all facts that can cause a lot of trouble. Water pollution kills more than a million seabirds is a fact; it kills more than a hundred thousand marine mammals is also a fact.
The cleaning of these places costs billions every year. Those billions could be used in so many different areas to help people. If only we put the trash in a trash can rather than in water. There are many waste disposal places all around the city if we could only use them it will save us from all the trouble.
24. Humans In Danger
When you throw something in the water, it will directly affect the aquatic life first, but it will indirectly affect humans. The plastic bags you throw do not dissolve in them. They change into plastic microparticles rather than decomposing, which are hard to dispose of.
The fishes and other marine life ate them and ended up dying. Some of the fish are caught and cooked to be served at dinner. You are not just eating the fish but all that toxic particles as well. These toxic particles even end up in the taps that we drink from daily. Do we want to end up getting sick? If not, then we should take this seriously and take care of our surroundings.
