(Ouistreham) The last practical chance to save the whales was futile: The missing cetaceans were dumped in alarming health in the Seine, a river in northwest France, on Wednesday after arriving by truck to the coast, where experts hope they can treat it.
Posted at 6:22
Updated at 7:08 am.
The four-meter-long cetaceans, which usually live in cold waters and are extremely rare in France, were seen on August 2 in the hot, stagnant waters of a lock on the Seine, about 160 kilometers from the mouth of the river. in the sea canal.
His status has crossed the French border.
In an unprecedented rescue operation, the animal, weighing nearly 800 kilograms, was placed in the back of a refrigerated truck around 4 a.m. (2 a.m. GMT) on Wednesday, after six hours of efforts to retrieve it from the Lock Saint-Pierre-la-Garenne, 70 kilometers north of West of Paris, where he failed.
Its survival was compromised in unsalted water at 25 degrees Celsius, with “elements of pollution or noise incompatible with its survival,” assures emergency services veterinarian Florence Olivet-Courtois.
“extreme weakness”
Arriving at 10:30 am in Ouistreham, a town on the coast of the Channel in northwestern France, the beluga was examined by veterinarians before a possible transfer to Hues and then out to sea. County explained.
“Despite the technical and logistical means that were implemented, the condition of the cetaceans unfortunately deteriorated during the journey,” the province added.
Veterinary experience revealed a case of severe weakness and failure of respiratory activity in the beluga. So the decision was made collectively with the vets to euthanize him.”
Florence Olivet Courtois explained on Twitter that “the animal was hypoxic (decreased in the amount of oxygen, editor’s note), so it was not breathing enough, so the suffering was obvious for this animal.”
“Due to his deteriorating condition during the flight, we decided to cut off the destination of the lock, to initiate euthanasia. This animal was in a muscular condition insufficient to breathe properly. […]. She added that we considered his condition to be incompatible with his release from Osterham lock-up.
m . confirmedI Olivier Courtois after this death added to an orca that was found dead in May in the Seine.
24 divers
Sea Shepherd, an ocean defense NGO, said such an operation was “essential to give a doomed animal a chance”.
As of Tuesday evening, more than a hundred people took part in this unprecedented rescue operation in France.
AFP journalists noted that the 24 divers involved and rescue workers who were handling the ropes around the lock tried several times, between 10pm and 4am, to lure the animal into the nets and a structure capable of lifting it.
The cetaceans, whose health was deemed “disturbing,” ended up being hoisted into a net pulled by a crane and put on a boat, where they were immediately taken care of by dozens of white-clad vets.
Then the beluga was put into a refrigerated truck that left the lock shortly after 7:30 am (5:30 GMT), at low speed, to travel the 160 km to Osterham.
A basin of sea water was provided, in a lock in the port, to receive the animal, which was to remain there for three days before being returned to the sea, if its health allowed.
According to the Pelagic Observatory, which specializes in marine mammals, the beluga whale usually lives in arctic and subarctic waters.
It is, according to these experts, the second beluga known in France after a fisherman from the Loire estuary bred one in his nets in 1948.
