The skeleton of the orca ‘Reveil’ has gone on show at the Duinpanne visitor centre in the seaside resort of De Panne (West Flanders). The male orca washed up on a stretch of beach between De Panne and the neighbouring resort of Koksijde almost 2 years ago. The 2 municipalities decided that the skeleton would go on show in De Panne after scientists had examined it.
Orca Reveil is back in De Panne, or at least its skeleton is. The animal washed up on the Flemish coast in October 2023. Shortly before, the orca had been sighted off the coastline several times, but then died.
Crowd puller for De Panne
Over the past year and a half, scientists studied the orca’s remains and the skeleton was made ready. De Panne is now exhibiting it at visitor centre Duinpanne.
Member of the West Flemish provincial executive Jurgen Vanlerberghe hopes the orca will attract additional visitors to Duinpanne. "A magnificent exhibition on ecology and the importance of the ocean is currently running here. It’s called Sea Change. We hope the exhibition will motivate people to take good care of the plants and animals in the sea."
"After all, that ecosystem also directly affects our ecosystem and our health. It's important that we can get that message across to as many people as possible and hopefully the interest in Orca Reveil will contribute to that."
By the way, encountering an orca on the Flemish coast is really quite exceptional. Before Reveil, it had been some 175 years since the last one washed ashore here.