Killer whale in the Seine: the skeleton of the animal kept at the Paris Natural History Museum

A stone’s throw from the Galerie de l’Évolution is a corner of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris to which visitors do not have access. For the past month, in his laboratory, the osteology technician Éric Shovel reconstructs the puzzle of the skeleton of the orca of the Seine. “When we autopsied him, he was 4.26 m. There, currently, there are 210 pieces“, explains Eric Shovel. Each bone was stripped of its flesh, then immersed in alcohol baths to be preserved.

While working on the animal’s head, Eric Shovel made a discovery. “I recovered a projectile at the bottom of the tank in which I had put my skull. I am unable to say where he was lodged, in what way“, explains Eric Shovel. According to the researchers who autopsied the animal, it was not this bullet that killed it. But she was able to separate him from the group and disorient him, which would explain his wandering in the Seine.

In a few days, his skeleton will join those of other cetaceans on the shelves of the Museum. The orca of the Seine will not be exposed to the public: only scientists will have access to it.