sound stimuli to direct the animal towards the Channel

An unprecedented rescue will be played out of sight. In order to help an orca stuck in the Seine for more than ten days to get back to the sea, boats and a drone will send it sound stimuli remotely, hoping to guide it towards the mouth of the English Channel. “It’s the least intrusive idea and the least stressful for the animal”, explains Éric Demay, of the NGO Tursiops, specialist in cetaceans.

For two weeks, the male killer whale, about four meters long, has been lost in fresh water. The phenomenon has also attracted nature enthusiasts, who are concerned about its health. Its curved dorsal fin and its emaciated gait leave little doubt about its condition. Seeing an orca take refuge in a river is rare enough to be worrying. Given his condition and the fact that he is separated from his group, the animal, even returning to the English Channel, could not be out of the woods.