Beluga whale rescued from Seine River dies

The whale beluga who had been rescued from the Seine River died while being transported to a lock where she was to be treated, local authorities announced on Wednesday.

“Despite an unprecedented beluga rescue operation, we are sad to announce the death of the cetacean,” the Calvados prefecture announced on Twitter.

A rescue of more than 8 hours

Some 80 specialists have participated in a complicated rescue of the 800 kilo beluga That developed for more than eight hours.

The animal, accustomed to living in the cold and salty Canadian watershad entered the river, stopped feeding and was in a state of health that caused concern to the authorities, veterinarians and activists, who decided to advance the rescue to prevent him from getting even sicker.

The animal, which had been blocked in an area of ​​the river by means of locks last Thursday, was pulled out of the water with a net lifted by a crane, a very stressful moment for the animalaccording to the secretary general of the government delegation of the Eure department in Normandy, Isabelle Dorliat-Pouzet.

The person in charge, who explained the conditions of the rescue at a press conference, warned that it was a risky operation for the animal.

A long and complex operation

“It is a very long operation involving eighty people, a dozen divers, specialists, veterinarians… We have worked a lot,” Dorliat-Pouzet told the cameras, before whom he was optimistic. “We have done the maximum and the best possible.”

The rescue work has cost several thousand euros, according to the person in charge, who referred to the numerous donations from citizens for the operation, such as the truck or the straw that will go inside, which several neighbors offered.

The animal, a male who despite his 800 kilos he was skinnier than he should be to a cetacean of these characteristics.

Related news

last month of May an orca entered the Seine where she stayed for several days, but died of exhaustion and lack of food before she could be rescued.

Specialists consider several options to explain these phenomena, such as an excess of noise pollution that disorients them or that they are lost due to changes in sea currents due to global warming.