Paris: French authorities say a beluga whale stranded for several days in the Seine River has died after it was successfully removed from the French waterway.
The whale was being transported to a saltwater pool in Normandy.
The Beluga whale swims near the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garenne lock in Saint-Pierre-la-Garenne, west of Paris on Tuesday.Credit:AP
Rescuers overnight used a crane to lift the whale from the river. It was checked over by vets before being placed in a refrigerated truck for a road journey of more than 160 kilometres to the channel port of Ouistreham.
“Despite an unprecedented rescue operation, it is with sadness that we announce the cetacean’s death,” said authorities in Calvados, the prefecture where the port is located.
A fire department vet said the beluga was euthanised while being transported after it developed breathing complications.
The plan had been to move the whale to the saltwater basin in the hope it might recover some strength before being transferred to the sea.
The whale, which became a local celebrity, was first spotted last week having accidentally veered off its normal path to the Arctic. It weighs about 800 kilograms.
Ahead of the attempted rescue, authorities said there was a risk the whale could die because of stress, but noted it couldn’t survive much longer in the Seine’s freshwater habitat.
AP, Reuters
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