“His state of health is very degraded,” said the vice-president of the GECC, an association based in Cherbourg commissioned by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB).
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An orca was observed in very great difficulty in the Seine between Le Havre and Rouen (Seine-Maritime), worried Wednesday May 25 the Cotentin Cetacean Study Group (GECC). This “male killer whale, protected and wild species”is “very weak”confirmed the prefecture of Seine-maritime. “The vital prognosis is engaged. We are really very, very worried. His state of health is very degraded”, said Gérard Mauger, vice-president of the GECC, an association based in Cherbourg commissioned by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) for the study and preservation of marine mammals in the Channel.
This animal “naturally does not have the vocation to evolve separated from its group, nor in fresh water courses. It could be injured or sick”added the prefecture. “Prohibition measures are taken so that the cetacean is not approached. They are legally based on a notice to shipping, with regulatory value”specifies the prefecture.
An orca in Normandy!
Clément Thomas, owner of the ATLAS trawler-sheller, filmed this incredible scene off the Baie de la Seine. He saw the dorsal fin of a male killer whale a few hundred meters away. pic.twitter.com/V12GybCTjs
– That’s enough ! (@cestassezfrance) April 9, 2022
“The longer she stays in fresh water, the more it will accelerate the deterioration of her state of health. She is very far from the sea. It is really complicated to find solutions to try to encourage her to return to the path of salted water”added Gerard Mauger.
The length of the animal “very skinny” but probably weighing more than a ton is “complicated to estimate” but “we are within 4-5 meters” he specified “by the shape of its fin it is a male, even if the fin is completely flat”. Seen for the first time on May 16 between Honfleur and Le Havre, near the Pont de Normandie, the orca is “very likely arrival already weakened towards the Seine estuary”he continues. “Her state of health makes it more comfortable for her to be in a river because it is less agitated. She expends less energy”but “It’s more complicated to feed: there is less prey than at sea. And she’s all alone when these are animals that hunt in packs”, he added.