The autopsy, however, favors death by starvation, according to the prefecture of Seine-Maritime.
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A race against time had begun to rescue the animal at the end of May. The autopsy revealed the presence of a bullet at the base of the skull of the killer whale who died in the Seine, the Seine-Maritime prefecture announced on Wednesday July 6. But “no certainty can be drawn at this stage” on a link between this bullet and the death of the animal, specifies the press release. He “it is not possible to date the moment when the bullet penetrated the body of the animal”adds the prefecture.
The public prosecutor of Rouen was informed of this discovery and “will determine the follow-up he wishes to give to it”. For its part, the Sea Shepherd France association announced on Twitter its intention to file “complaint against X for attempted destruction of a protected species”.
“If the exact cause of death is not known, the elements collected indicate that his death is not directly linked to his passage in the Seine”, adds the prefecture. The first results of post-mortem examinations “lead to favor the hypothesis that the animal died of starvation (state of weakness caused by the fact that the animal has stopped eating)”according to the press release.
This state of weakness could be explained by the isolation of the cetacean, which usually evolves in a group. The autopsy carried out on May 31 confirms the “poor physical condition” killer whale, female “immature” more than four meters and 1,100 kg, shortly before his death. Further test results are expected in the coming months. The skeleton will then be prepared and sent to the marine mammal reserve of the National Museum of Natural History.