Status: 09.08.2022 4:44 p.m
A stray beluga whale has been stuck in a lock on the Seine river since Friday. According to experts, he will not be able to survive much longer in the warm fresh water – the French authorities are therefore planning a costly and risky rescue operation.
French authorities are preparing a difficult rescue operation for a beluga whale that has strayed into the Seine and has been stuck in a French river lock for days. As the prefecture of the department of Eure in Normandy announced, an attempt should be made in the evening to pull the whale out of the river. He is then to be taken by truck to a saltwater pool.
Around 60 scientists and animal rights activists are present when the beluga whale, which is four meters long and weighs around 800 kilos, is lifted by crane from the fresh water of the Seine locks onto a barge. Then he goes to a refrigerated truck, where he is kept constantly moist in a transport box with wet sheets under the supervision of veterinarians. “We then want to heave him into a pool of salt water for a few days to do medical tests that weren’t possible in the lock,” says Vice-Prefect in Evreux, Isabelle Dorliat-Pouzet. “After that we want to release him in the sea, on the open sea.”
The white whale was first sighted in the Seine on Tuesday last week. Since Friday he has been stuck in the lock in Saint-Pierre-La-Garenne, around 70 kilometers from Paris – 130 kilometers from the Seine estuary on the English Channel. According to experts, the animal cannot survive much longer in the warm fresh water. Beluga whales typically live in arctic waters off the coasts of Russia, Alaska, and Canada.
The beluga whale has been stuck in this lock since Friday – attempts to feed the animal had been unsuccessful in the past few days.
Image: AFP
Animal refuses food
Previously, such a rescue operation had been ruled out because the whale seemed too weak for it. Experts recently advised, however, to dare the transport. The emaciated beluga does not eat, his lack of appetite could be a sign of illness. But he could be supplied with vitamins and antibiotics.
“He’s turning his head again, which he hasn’t done before, and that wasn’t a good sign,” said Deputy Prefect Dorliat-Pouzet. “And his skin patches have gotten smaller.” Taking blood, checking the air you breathe – maybe after the action you will know why the whale is not eating and whether you can help it.
The interest and the willingness to donate in France are huge. Among others, the marine protection organization Sea Shepherd collected donations for the rescue operation. Above all, ropes, nets and mattresses are needed.
“We have no other option”
But the plan is anything but simple: “It was very difficult to organize this enormous logistics,” explains the President of Sea Shepherd France, Lamya Essemlali. “It also poses a risk because it’s stressful for the beluga. It’s better, but it’s also very weak. We’re waiting for this hot day to cool down. We have no other option.”
The animal rights activist warns that there is a high death rate when transporting dolphins. She and her team accompanied the beluga whale on its way up the Seine around the clock and asked the prefecture to close the lock and refill it with fresh water. The animal thanks you in the meantime: It is lively, curious and has regained its hunting instinct.
Second beluga whale in France
According to experts, this is only the second time that a beluga whale has strayed to France. The first time a fisherman spotted a whale in his nets in the Loire Estuary was in 1948.
Other large whales had previously strayed into the Seine: in May, an orca starved to death after weeks of odyssey in the river, in July a fin whale was presumably sighted in the river estuary near Le Havre.