The beluga, which spent more than a week lost in the Seine, had to be euthanized by veterinarians this Wednesday (10) after being pulled from the river some 70km from Paris.
Originally from the cold waters of the Arctic, the animal was in an extremely fragile state of health and had completely stopped eating. The rescue operation, which began Tuesday evening (9) and lasted all night, was unprecedented.
The health condition of the 4 meter long and 800 kilogram whale was considered alarming. It was a male who showed great weight loss. An adult animal should weigh about 4 tons. According to the vets involved in the operation, the whale would no longer have any digestive activity, which explains why it stopped eating.
It was “longer than expected”, but “it’s a wild animal and it was a new technique, so we had to go step by step”, said the deputy mayor of the city of Evreux, Isabelle DorliatPouzet, describing the work. Collective of about 80 people divers, firefighters, police officers, zoologists, veterinarians involved in the operation.
“The moment the beluga was pulled out of the water, in the net, was extremely intense and stressful because it was scared, moving. It was quite surprising,” said the deputy mayor, who witnessed the entire process.
Vets tend to a beluga whale after it was rescued from the Seine in France; Animal had to be euthanized
Image: JEANFRANCOIS MONIER/AFP
The transport of the whale in a refrigerated truck began this Wednesday around 7:30 a.m. local time (2:20 a.m. in Brasília) towards the port of Ouistreham, also in Normandy, where it should be installed in a seawater lock in a few days. better evaluated before being released into the open sea if possible.
In an interview with RFI on Monday (8th), the President of the NGO Sea Shepherd, Lamya Essenlali, already indicated that “depending on how her condition develops, we will see if we can help her to reach the sea and it try to identify their disease to know if we can treat it or if it is something incurable and in that case nature will take its course,” he explained.
(with AFP)