The death of the beluga found in the Seine is that of a “representative and an ambassador of his fragile and endangered species” deplores Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Sheperd France, on france info Wednesday August 10. During its transfer to a basin in Ouistreham, the animal was euthanized on Wednesday morning, which the NGO regrets even if it considers the event rather as a “trigger that opens the consciousness of the general public to the fate of the ocean”.
franceinfo: What do you remember from the mobilization for this animal?
Lamya Essemlali: To my sense, this animal crystallizes many things. The objective, there, was not necessarily to preserve the species, it is an old individual. But he was a representative and an ambassador of his fragile and threatened species, in agony. What is happening with this beluga whale and what happened with the killer whale a few weeks ago are triggers that open the consciousness of the general public to the fate of the ocean.
“If we manage to be so moved by the fate of a single individual, this must necessarily challenge us to the fate of the thousands of others who die as a result of human activities, far from sight and conscience.”
Lamya Essemlali, President of Sea Shepherd Franceat franceinfo
There was not enough public budget released to allow the whole operation, so we launched a kitty to help us finance the missing part. There was incredible solidarity.
Do we know what prompted this animal to come to the Seine?
The mouth of Le Havre is an extremely noisy place. There is a very active seaport and very significant pollution. A wind farm in Courseulles-sur-Mer (Calvados) is also under construction, which may have confused him. These are assumptions, and perhaps not the only reasons.
Perhaps there was also a weakening of the animal which reinforced or favored this disorientation. The mystery also remains whole on how a beluga was able to descend under our latitudes whereas it is an animal which lives in the subarctic regions. There are many questions that remain unanswered and I hope that some of these questions will be answered through the autopsy.
Did you hope to save him?
Cetacean translocations carry an undeniable risk, even on animals that are in good health. We were aware of this. But we had no other alternatives since he was going to die remaining in the Seine. The objective was to determine if care could be brought to him or if he was suffering from an incurable illness.
“It is a great disappointment for us, but also for the teams of caretakers, the veterinarians, the firefighters, the sub-prefect of Eure who has been extraordinarily human on this file and the thousands of sympathizers who have followed this story. .”
Lamya Essemlali, President of Sea Shepherd Franceat franceinfo
It wasn’t me who made the decision to put an end to his suffering, but I saw this beluga and his respiratory distress was evident. It was extremely difficult and I would not have allowed myself to go against the advice of euthanizing him and risk prolonging his agony. It wasn’t easy to do this, but the animal’s interest prevailed from start to finish.