Paris is renowned for its quaint and picturesque canals, which have become a tourist attraction in their own right. However, as a result of years of pollution most of these Canals are in fact filthy and steaming.

Parisian authorities are gradually working on the transformation of these dirty bodies of water into the clean oasis that they should be. They began their work on The Saint-Martin Canal, which hasn’t been cleaned for 15 years.

Before

This is what the canal looked like before it’s clean-up. At first glance, nothing looks too out of the ordinary. The canal is lined with trees on both sides, sheltering it from the hustle and bustle of the city and making it a quaint spot for an evening stroll.

However, underneath the smooth surface of the water, lie some bizarre items. While many of these items are simple everyday objects, others have more sinister histories. Scroll down below to find out what exactly was hiding in the mysterious canal.

It Begins

Before they could begin the drainage and cleaning, the workers needed to create a temporary dam in order to section off the area. The beauty and tranquillity of the canal was instantly disturbed by the industrial sound of heavy machinery and the unattractive sight of the cranes.

Some of the passers-by were probably mumbling to themselves, “I’m big enough to lift this”.  However, the size of the slabs suggests that we can all safely say that they were not quite up to the task, contrary to their own beliefs.

Drainage

Once the water had been filtered through the impromptu dam, slowly the drainage process began. Workers ensured that not all of the water was completely drained away, leaving some of the water for a very specific and thoughtful reason.

The Parisian waters certainly contained some brave fish. The workers had to go into the canal and take care of the aquatic wildlife, residing in the murky waters. No need for advanced technology here, since they went with the old-fashioned way of grabbing them by hand with some long nets.

Transporting the fish to safety

During canal clean-ups, it is common to have to transport some rare species of aquatic wildlife to safety, but during this particular clean-up, there was an exceedingly large variety that needed to be transported elsewhere.

In fact, more than 4.5 tonnes of live fish were gathered from the murky waters of the canal and relocated to another environment. The different species are sorted, counted and released once a health analysis has been carried out.

Gathering Evidence

During the transportation process, the fish were counted and researchers used their general health and weight readings as a way to gauge the overall water quality in the Paris canals.

These figures are used, not only by marine biologists to help aquatic wildlife, but also to provide them with an insight into their lives. Fun Fact: The workers found a carp weighing more than 20 kilograms in the Paris Canal!

Deep Discoveries

With the fish relocated to a safe place, the cleaning process finally begins. While seasoned workers are well aware of all the creepy and mysterious things one might find at the bottom of the canal, nothing had prepared them for this discovery…

Remember that this Canal hadn’t been cleaned for several years. It had been witness to Paris both at its worst and at its best! Draining it revealed some secrets that it had been hiding for quite some time and stunned everyone!

A Wild Traffic Cone

A real classic. This cone, once used to divert traffic, was discovered sunken at the bottom of the canal. While this is one of the more common objects found in the canal, it is still peculiar.

We do question how it is that a traffic cone ends up in a Parisian canal… Perhaps they get carried away by aggressive winds, or perhaps it is the work of Parisian youths, returning home from a night out and looking to cause trouble.

An Abandoned Trolley

Amongst the mud and moss, the maintenance team discovered this shopping trolley in the Paris Canal. It seems to have been there for a long time. Each picture begs the question, what is this objects history? and.. how did it end up here?

Our guess is that this could be the work of a bunch of teenagers messing around with a stolen cart or perhaps it belonged to a homeless person. Either way, with no major department stores in the vicinity, it is clear that this was no accident.

An Office Chair

We can assume that most of the items that end up in the canal are chucked in there by lazy individuals who do this to avoid having to dispose of their old furniture in the appropriate manner. This picture shows an old office chair, in relatively good condition.

The lack of concern these people seem to have for the aquatic wildlife living in these canals is really quite shocking. Throwing these kinds of items into the canal poses a significant risk to both the environment, and to the lives of the wildlife.

Bicycles

What to do with your Vélib when there is no more space on the terminals at the bottom of your road? Perhaps head to the nearest neighbourhood to find one? This person thought it  better to just throw their bike into the canal.

The water managed to do some serious damage to this bicycle but strangely enough, the contents of its front basket, still remain intact. While no one has bothered to take a closer look at them.. we are curious to know more!

Consequently, marine animals end up ingesting them without knowing it and, ultimately, die. These particles remain inside fish that are raised in order to end up on our plates, and, as a result, these particles pass easily through the tap and end up in our glasses without us noticing. Would you like to suffer the same fate as these marine animals?