BELUGA. A beluga, a cetacean over four meters, has been located for several days in the Seine. Stuck in the river, the animal, closely followed by the authorities, associations and veterinarians, seems not to want to eat. His worrying situation…
[Mis à jour le 8 août 2022 à 17h34] It’s a sad spectacle that the Seine has been offering for a few days with the incongruous and disturbing presence of a cetacean, a beluga of more than four meters. The white cetacean, accustomed to cold salty waters, finds itself far from its natural environment and its worried state of health. This Monday August 8, 2022, he would still be in the lock of Saint-Pierre-La-Garenne, in Eure where many trainers and local authorities are present to try to assist and help the animal.
Alas, the news is hardly reassuring and the NGO Sea Shepherd, which campaigns for the defense of the oceans and marine animals, is not very optimistic. If everything is done to try to save this beluga, its refusal to eat as much as its state of health and its geographical location can leave little hope of its survival. The option of euthanizing the beluga was ruled out Sunday, August 7, due to the behavior of the animal, which reacted to stimuli. “He is not amorphous and moribund,” added Lamya Essemlali in comments transcribed by AFP.
The beluga is still not feeding (a priori) but it continues to be curious. Around 4 am he rubbed himself for 30 minutes on the walls of the lock and got rid of the stains that had appeared on his back. Antibiotics may also have helped. pic.twitter.com/VIyZ9mWNN5
— Sea Shepherd France (@SeaShepherdFran) August 8, 2022
What is the latest information on the state of health of the beluga stuck in the Seine?
On Monday August 8, the Eure prefecture announced that “surveillance of the animal continues. The nautical means of the Sdis are engaged as well as the gendarmerie and the NGO Sea Shepherd. Its breathing, its behavior and its diet are observed.” So far, the beluga has not wanted to eat, while the keepers have given it trout, herring and squid. This is why he was administered an appetite stimulator, without success, as the president of Sea Shepherd France explained on Sunday on BFM TV: “What we hoped is that the appetite stimulator allows him to eat. There was no significant difference.”
Where is the beluga stuck for several days in the Seine?
Spotted in the middle of last week, the 4-meter beluga has been in a lock northwest of Paris since Friday August 5. The lock located at Notre-Dame de la Garenne near Vernon, 70 km northwest of Paris, measures 125 meters by 25 meters. Its presence in this lock could have caused additional stress in the animal, the authorities noted this weekend.
Can this beluga be saved?
For several days, the veterinarians present on the spot have been trying to help him eat. Several fish were offered to the animal in vain. In a press release published on Sunday August 7, the Eure prefecture had indicated that in view of the physiological state of the cetacean, “vitamins and products likely to whet its appetite” were administered to it. Its presence in the Seine weakens the animal accustomed to evolving in a salt water environment, fresh water damaging its skin. If the beluga can be “resistant” in the words of the Eure prefecture, the lack of food leaves little hope for specialists and animal protection associations. “His lack of appetite is surely a symptom of something else, an origin that we do not know, an illness. He is undernourished and it dates back several weeks, even several months. At sea, he no longer ate “, notes Sea Shepherd’s Lamya Essemlali.