According to Reuters, it took more than 80 rescuers six hours to free the animal from the lock. After that, the animal was put on a barge and subjected to medical examinations.
However, because of the animal’s “alarming” weight loss, researchers had to euthanize it shortly after. Officials from the Essonne Department Fire and Rescue Service declared its demise in a video message.
“During the trip, the veterinarians noted a deterioration in its condition, particularly in its respiratory activity, and we were able to see that the animal was in anoxia — ie, insufficiently ventilated — so this animal was obviously suffering and we decided that it was pointless to release it and so we had to proceed with its euthanasia,” said Florence Ollivet-Courtois, veterinarian at the fire and rescue service.
The whale was initially expected to be moved to the Normandy region and then released into the sea, according to veterinarians.
It should have weighed roughly 1,200 kilograms, according to Reuters, but it only weighed about 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds) (2,646 pounds).
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The Arctic and sub-Arctic regions are the beluga’s native environment. Although the St. Lawrence Estuary in Quebec, Canada, has the most well-known population, the closest population to the French coast is in Svalbard, an archipelago in northern Norway, which is 1,900 miles from the Seine.
Nobody knows how the beluga got lost, but according to WWF, the whales’ capacity to communicate and navigate is being hampered by the melting sea ice in Arctic waters, which is making the region more accessible to shipping, fishing, and other human activity. The species is also having a lot more difficulty finding food and finding mates.
Numerous marine mammal species have recently been discovered in France, far from where they usually live. According to France’s Pelagis Observatory, which specializes in the study of sea mammals, potential causes could include health status, age, social isolation, and environmental factors, among others.