August 9, 2022, 13:43 PM
August 9, 2022, 13:43 PM
A team of rescuers will try to help an 800 kilo cetacean in a delicate state. The animal that normally lives in the cold waters of the Arctic is lost in the Seine in France, which compromises its life.
France considers transporting a beluga whale lost in the Seine River to take her to the sea and thus try to save her life. “It seems to us that it is possible to consider a transport to the sea. Thinking of the beluga’s interest, we can try it and we work hard,” said regional deputy prefect Isabelle Dorliat-Pouzet.
The official warned however that there are no promises that this operation will work. This option involves mobilizing a cetacean weighing 800 kilos, which is sick and in a delicate state. In addition, the path to the English Channel is long, since the cetacean is between two locks about 70 kilometers north of the French capital, about 130 kilometers from the mouth.
The beluga was detected in the Seine river last Tuesday and the ocean defense NGO Sea Shepherd indicated Monday that it remains in a steady state, without worsening within its weak situation.
The beluga is a protected species of cetaceans that usually live in cold or icy waters and its presence in the Seine River is exceptional.
Several attempts to feed the animal, “very skinny” according to the prefecture, have been unsuccessful, reducing day by day its chances of survival. The animal refused to eat the squid and trout offered to it. But vitamins and antibiotics made it possible to stabilize his state of health.
In addition, a prolonged stay in the lock water, warm and stagnant compared to their usual aquatic environment, it is detrimental to their health.
According to France’s Pelagis Observatory, which specializes in marine mammals, the closest beluga population is found off the Svalbard archipelago, north of Norway, 3,000 kilometers from the Seine.
The rescue of the cetacean will be carried out by a team of specialists from the marine animal park Marineland in Antibes (South of France) who described the operation as “out of the ordinary”. Before returning the animal to its natural marine habitat, rescuers will take blood samples and check it to determine its health status.
After locating the animal on August 2, the possibility of ending its suffering through euthanasia was evaluated. Finally, it was decided to try to extract it from the lock in which it is trapped.
The case of the beluga is reminiscent of that of a lost orca in the Seine River last May and died after a slow agony. It is still unknown why two wild cetaceans have been lost in the Seine River in so few months. The defenders of marine fauna do not rule out that noise pollution from radars and the construction of a wind farm could dislodge cetaceans.
Sources: French press.
