Seine rescue: Expert warns trapped beluga whale ‘may die’ on rescue mission, but insists ‘we still have to try’ | World News

Operation to remove a beluga whale that has been stranded in the Seine since Friday has begun.

Since the whale strayed into a saltwater basin in Normandy, efforts have been underway to free it, amid concerns about its rapidly declining health.

Now, conservation group Sea Shepherd France says a medical team plans to transport the 4-meter (13-foot) whale to a coastal spot for “a period of care”.

A team of about 24 experts and many other volunteers used cranes and nets to load the fragile and dangerous beluga into a refrigerated truck during the approximately 99-mile (160 km) trip to town. port of Ouistreham, northeastern France.

While experts say the whale can get sick, moving the mammal can also harm it.

Conservation expert Isabelle Brasseur said “he could have died right now, in the process of lifting”, but she said it was more important to “try to”.

She added that a large group had regrouped after the rescue effort, with about 80 people, “half of them firefighters, many gendarmes to secure position, 10 divers and many dynamic specialists.” animals, veterinarians and others.”

Because the area was experiencing extreme hot weather, the team waited until nightfall before moving the whale, which weighed about 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds).

Rescuers hope to free the mammal from the fate of an orca that got lost in the Seine and died in May.

They still hope it will exist after it reaction to an antibiotic and vitamin used in the last few days and rubs itself on the wall of the padlock to remove the plaque on the back.