The state of health of the marine animal usually living in cold waters is being evaluated.
Le Monde with AFP
A marine animal was spotted Tuesday in the Seine, the Eure prefecture announced on Wednesday August 3. According to the study of the first shots, “the animal would be a beluga […] a species protected of cetacean usually living in arctic, subarctic waters and in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec”, details the prefecture In a press release, without specifying in which sector of the Seine the animal was seen, any more than the size of the individual who has adulthood measures approximately 4 meters.
The identification work was carried out jointly by the services of the French Office of Biodiversity and the Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations. “An assessment of his state of health is underway to take the appropriate measures to optimize his chances of survival”, adds the press release, which specifies that “it happens to isolated individuals to wander in more southern waters”, which can “survive temporarily in fresh water”.
The prefecture asks the population not to move to the site or try to approach beluga in order to “not stress the animal during the information collection phase”. It recalls that the state services “are mobilized for the preservation of wildlife and continue their continuous surveillance of the population”.
The NGO Sea Shepherd is rather worried about the future of beluga, and fears that the “tragic end” of the Orca in the Seine is repeated.
After Sedna, the Orca who experienced a tragic end last June, it was a beluga who sinks into the Seine.… https://t.co/axfwxy2plb
At the beginning of June, an orca had been observed in the Seine, between Rouen and Le Havre. The animal had finally been found dead and an autopsy had favored an inanitual death.