An analysis carried out by biologists, veterinarians and wildlife specialists found that the animal was in a critical state of health. The illness from which she suffers causes her “significant suffering”.
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The prefecture of Seine-Maritime announces, Sunday, May 29, that the killer whale lost for several days in the Seine, between Rouen and Le Havre will be euthanized. A decision made for “to put an end to the suffering suffered by the orca, and to carry out in-depth analyzes on the pathology of which it is a carrier”, provides the release. The prefecture explains that an analysis carried out by biologists, veterinarians and wildlife specialists has found the animal to be in a critical state of health. The killer whale suffers among other things from “necrotic lesions”.
“The findings made by the experts suggest that the animal is suffering from mucormycosis. Mucormycosis is an emerging disease observed in marine mammals in several places around the world, without the specialists currently being aware of comparable cases in Europe”explains the prefecture. “It is a deep affection of the dermis and the epidermis likely to affect immunocompromised animals, which can embolize at the blood level to reach the kidneys, the lungs, the heart and the brain, this last point being likely to explain the disoriented behavior of the orca”, continues the prefecture. This disease has reached “a very advanced stage”, causing “significant suffering to the animal”.
This weekend an intervention was decided to help the animal to reach the sea, in particular with the help of a drone and sound effects of killer whales. But this operation did not have the expected results. However, it has enabled the Cotentin Cetaceans and Channel Sea Marine Mammals Study Group (GECC) to collect data on the animal’s state of health: “a lack of liveliness, inconsistent reactions to sound stimuli, and erratic and disoriented behavior of the killer whale (back and forth from one side of the bank to the other)”.“The sound recordings also revealed vocalizations similar to cries of distress”, adds the prefecture.