France euthanises stranded beluga whale after removal from Seine

An ailing beluga whale has been put down after a health complication during a rescue operation.

Rescuers pull up a net as they lift the stranded beluga whale from the River Seine in northern France [Jean-Francois Monier/AFP)
French marine experts launched an ambitious operation on August 9 to rescue an ailing beluga whale [File: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP]

An ailing beluga whale that strayed into France’s Seine river has been put down after it was successfully removed from the waterway, according to authorities.

The development came on Tuesday hours after rescue divers overnight guided the whale into a net before a crane lifted it from the river in an operation which lasted six hours. It was then transported in a refrigerated truck to the Channel port of Ouistreham.

During the journey by road, the already-weak beluga suffered respiratory failure and it was euthanised by vets shortly after arriving in Ouistreham to prevent further suffering.

“Despite an unprecedented rescue operation, it is with sadness that we announce the cetacean’s death,” the local Calvados authorities said.

The plan had been to move the malnourished whale to a saltwater basin in the hope it might recover some strength before being transferred to the sea.

But it was a risky venture.

The four-metre (13.1-foot) male weighed 800 kilograms (1,763 pounds), well below an adult beluga’s typical weight of 1,200kg, and had not eaten since it was first spotted in the Seine last week.

Rescuers believe it was sick before it wandered up the river to within 70km (43 miles) of Paris.

The whale’s condition deteriorated during the road journey to the coast. It was still alive when it reached Ouistreham but was weak and struggling to breathe.

Marine conservation group Sea Shepherd France, which was involved in the rescue operation, said leaving the whale in the Seine would have condemned it to certain death. Beluga cannot survive prolonged periods in warm, freshwater rivers.

“[The operation] was risky, but essential to give a chance to an otherwise doomed animal,” the group added.

In late May, a gravely ill orca swam dozens of miles up the Seine and died of natural causes after attempts to guide it back to sea failed.

In September 2018, a beluga was spotted in the River Thames east of London, in what was then the most southerly sighting of a beluga on British shores.

Beluga whales typically live in pods in Arctic or sub-Arctic waters.

Rescuers pull up a net as they rescue a beluga whale stranded in the River Seine in northern France.
Rescuers pull up a net as they lift the stranded beluga whale from the Seine river [File: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP]
Source: News Agencies