The beluga trapped in the Seine died, and the attempts made to save it were useless
The cetacean stuck for days in a lock of the great French river northwest of Paris had been lifted from the water with a crane to be transported to the ocean. Following the worsening of his condition, the vets decided to subject him to euthanasia.
The beluga that had been stuck in the waters of the Seine for days died during the operations put in place to save him. The marine mammal that usually lives in the icy waters of the Arctic and that had lost its way, swimming southwards until it reached and went up the great French river, last night had been extracted from the waters with the aid of a net attached to a crane to then be transported in a saltwater tank to the sea.
The cetacean, 4 months long for 800 kg of weight, had been raised in an operation that involved 24 divers and rescuers who had to try several times to get him close to the nets before pulling him out of the river and placing him on a barge to allow a team of about twenty veterinarians to give him the first treatment.
The attempt to save it, however, proved useless: the cetacean appeared particularly "weakened and stressed" as reported by Isabelle Brasseur of the Marineland team sent to assist in the rescue, together with the NGO Sea Shepherd France. "It is with a heavy heart that we announce that the beluga did not survive the relocation which was risky, but essential to give an otherwise doomed animal a chance. - specified Sea Shepherd France -. Following the worsening of his condition, the vets decided to subject him to euthanasia”.
On Twitter, the Sea Shepherd France experts also explained that it was a male specimen, on which no signs of any infectious disease were initially found, although they could not clarify why it did not no longer have any digestive activity, which is why he hadn't eaten the fish that had been thrown to him to keep him from starving. Hence the decision of the biologists to try to reactivate the digestive activity and to give him a cocktail of vitamins.
Following the rescue, the beluga was to be transported north to the town of Ouistreham, Normandy, in a saltwater tank on a refrigerated truck. it was already ready for the transfer. Lamya Essemlali, head of the non-profit organization for marine conservation Sea Shepherd, admitted Sunday that there was "little hope" of saving him except within 24 to 48 hours.
