Stranded beluga whale lifted from France's Seine river, en route to Normandy


Issued on: 10/08/2022 - 

00:40Rescuers pull up a net as they rescue a beluga whale stranded in the River Seine on August 9, 2022. © Jean-Francois Monier, AFP

Text by:FRANCE 24


The beluga whale stranded in the river Seine in northern France was removed from the water early Wednesday and is now being transported to a coastal town in Normandy in a bid to save its life, officials and activists involved in the rescue mission said.


After nearly six hours of work, the 800-kilogram (1,800 pounds) cetacean was lifted from the river by a net and crane at around 4:00 am (0200 GMT) and placed on a barge under the immediate care of a dozen veterinarians.

The all-white beluga, a protected species usually found in cold Arctic waters, was then confined in a large lock system and is now being transported in a refrigerated lorry to the coastal town of Ouistreham, in Normandy, where it will be put in a salt water lock.

The four-metre (13-foot) whale was spotted more than a week ago heading towards Paris and was stranded some 130 kilometres (80 miles) inland from the Channel at Saint-Pierre-La-Garenne in Normandy.

Since Friday, the animal’s movement inland had been blocked by a lock at Saint-Pierre-La-Garenne, 70 kilometres northwest of Paris, and its health had deteriorated after it refused to eat.

A seawater basin at a lock in the Channel port of Ouistreham has been readied for the animal, which will spend three days there under observation in preparation for its release.

The “exceptional” operation to return it to the sea is not without risk for the whale, which is already weakened and stressed.

Despite the success of the first stage of the rescue operation, there are still doubts about the chances of survival for the whale, which should normally weigh 1,200 kg.

“The veterinarians are not necessarily optimistic concerning the beluga’s health,” Isabelle Dorliat-Pouzet, secretary general of the Eure prefecture, told BFM TV.

“It’s horribly thin for a beluga and that does not bode well for its life expectancy for the medium term,” she said.

The 24 divers involved in the operation and the rescuers handling the ropes had to try several times between 10:00pm and 4:00am to lure the animal into the nets to be lifted out of the water.

A handful of curious people remained on the bank all night to observe the operation.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)