Missing beluga whale discovered in the Seine River thousands of miles from home in the Arctic | World News
French officials are racing to save a beluga whale discovered in the Seine after it strayed thousands of miles from its Arctic Ocean habitat.
Marine conservationists fear the animal could starve to death if it stays in the waterway Paris.
The whale was discovered on Wednesday, and fire crews used drones to track it swimming across a stretch of river between the French capital and the city of Rouen in Normandy.
Normandy Eure firefighter Patrick Herot said the “impressive” sea creature appeared “calm”, adding that it did not appear to be tense and “resurged frequently”.
However, the whale was barely moving on Thursday, drifting between two locks in the river, according to Eure official Isabelle Dorliat-Pouzet – raising concerns about its welfare.
Conservation group Sea Shepherd France warned the animal urgently needed food and helped lead it home.
“It is condemned to die if it stays in the Seine,” said group president Lamya Essemlali.
“The challenge now will be to help feed it and try to go with it to the ocean.”
Ms Essemlali said it was not possible to remove the beluga from the water because it could put the animal in danger.
Drone footage captured the animal’s silhouette just below the waterline before it came to the surface to breathe.
It is not clear why the animal left the Arctic waters.
Image file: AP
Belugas’ is famous for its fair skin and oval forehead. They are also known to be sociable animals, having the habit of living, hunting and migrating together in their shells.
In May of last year a minke whale died after it ran aground in the Thames.
A dead whale is towed from the waterway near Gravesend, Kent, in October 2019 – less than five miles from where a humpback whale had been hit by a boat days earlier.
