The Seine-Maritime prefecture announced on Sunday the need to end the suffering of cetacean, whose state of health is strongly degraded.
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Rescue attempts will not have been sufficient. Despite a first rescue operation on Saturday May 28, the Orca in difficulty in the Seine will not be able to be rescued. The Seine-Maritime prefecture announced Sunday that the cetacean, lost between Le Havre and Rouen, should be euthanized in the coming days to end its suffering. “The expert working group has concluded that the only possible solution is to euthanize the animal,” she said in a press release. The procedures of the intervention still remain to be determined.
At the origin of this decision, the degraded state of health of the cetacean. “This gives goosebumps, we do not even recognize that it is an orca,” says Charlotte Curé, a researcher in bioacoustics at the Center for Studies and Expertise on Risks, the Environment, Mobility and the Planning (Cerema). The latest observations suggest that the animal suffers from mucormcosis, a skin disease “observed on marine mammals in several places in the globe, without the specialists having to date comparable cases in Europe”, specifies the prefecture.
Communiqué relating to the surveillance of the orca 🐳 weakened observed in the Seine ⤵️ https://t.co/cpfmmciago
Pathology can even “embark on the blood to reach the kidneys, lungs, heart and brain”. It is currently impossible to determine whether the animal has contracted this disease before or after its arrival in the Seine. However, it is likely that his condition has deteriorated in contact with fresh water. This environment, not very suitable for a kind of salt water, promotes the degradation of the skin and can cause ulcers.
“Disordered behavior”
On Saturday, a rescue operation had been initiated for the cetacean, seen for the first time on May 16 near Le Havre. About twenty experts and volunteers tried to attract him towards the mouth of the Seine thanks to a dissemination of sounds issued by a population of orcas. This gentle intervention method has been favored to avoid stressing the weakened cetacea more. Visual follow -up was also provided by Drone and has made it possible to observe the animal more precisely.
“Her behavior was completely messy, she went from one bank to another, without logic,” says Charlotte Curé. Pre -recorded sounds of its fellows in a social context or driving fish have been disseminated underwater, without success. The orca in difficulty, which measures between four and five meters and weighs more than a ton, has managed to travel a kilometer, but “it exhaust itself very quickly and, from an ethical point of view, we cannot Find on an animal like that, “continues the researcher, who led the intervention. Faced with the inconsistent reactions of the animal and its lack of liveliness, the intervention was suspended Saturday in the early evening.
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