the cetacean died during its transport to Ouistreham, announces the prefecture of Calvados

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce that the beluga did not survive,” announced the NGO Sea Shepherd on Twitter. The beluga which got lost in the Seine died during the rescue operation which aimed to release it at sea, confirmed the prefecture of Calvados on Wednesday August 10. “During the trip [entre l’Eure et Ouistreham]the veterinarians noted a deterioration in his condition, and in particular in his respiratory functions”, because of that “insufficient” “muscular condition”, explained a veterinarian from Sdis in a video posted on the prefecture’s Twitter account, before concluding: “The suffering was obvious (…) and therefore it was necessary to proceed with euthanasia.”

#Beluga
Despite an unprecedented operation to rescue the #belugawe are sad to announce the death of the cetacean.
Mrs. Ollivet Courtois, veterinarian of @sdis91 explains to you ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5Mb8s5BZPc

— Prefect of Calvados (@Prefect14) August 10, 2022

The beluga had been taken out of the lock from Saint-Pierre-la-Garenne (Eure), where he had been for several days, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. A health check had “confirmed the thinness of the animal, who refused to eat, “but do not [permettait] not to determine the cause”, according to the Eure prefecture. For veterinarians, his condition augured “of poor vital prognosis”.

The autopsy of the marine animal, a “necropsy”will be “very important” underlined The veterinarian of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service Florence Ollivet-Courtois. This death is in addition to that of an orca found dead in May in the Seine.