The option of euthanizing, which is in the Seine, has been "discarded for the moment", Lamya Essemlali, head of Sea Shepherd, the ocean defense NGO, told AFP on Sunday, while the cetacean is sick and does not eat.
"
The option of euthanasia has been ruled out for the moment because at this stage it would be premature because he still has vigor, a curious behavior: he turns his head, he reacts to stimuli, he does not 'is not amorphous and moribund
,' said Lamya Essemlali, after a meeting with the prefecture, the French Office for Biodiversity, Pelagis and a Canadian cetacean expert.
Read alsoAfter the killer whale, a beluga observed in the Seine
The beluga, a four-meter cetacean spotted in the Seine on Tuesday and whose presence in this river is exceptional, is in a lock measuring approximately 125 m by 25 m at 70 km northwest of Paris since Friday.
“
His lack of appetite is surely a symptom of something else, an origin that we do not know, a disease.
He is undernourished and it is several weeks, even several months.
At sea, he no longer ate
,” continued Lamya Essemlali.
The presence of spots on his body, revealed on Saturday, would come from the fact that he is in fresh water.
Asked about the chances of saving the animal, Lamya Essemlali confided that the experts and the authorities were faced with "
a challenge
", where there is "
little hope
".
“
We are all dubious about its ability to reach the sea by its own means.
Even if we 'drive' it with a boat, it would be extremely dangerous, if not impossible
,” she said.
The presence of spots on his body, revealed on Saturday, would come from the fact that he is in fresh water.
JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP
Another hypothesis would be to extract it from the water and "
take it to the sea to feed it and provide it with additional vitamins, to do a biopsy to have information on its origin and information on its state of health and what that makes him sick
,” she said.
In any case, it does not seem possible to leave it in the lock where the water is stagnant and hot.
“
He must be out within the next 24/48 hours, these are not optimal conditions for him
,” explained the Sea Shepherd manager.
According to the Pelagis observatory, which specializes in marine mammals, the beluga “
has an arctic and subarctic distribution.
Although the best known population is found in the St. Lawrence estuary (Quebec), the closest to our shores is found in Svalbard, an archipelago located in northern Norway (3000 km from the Seine)
”.
SEE ALSO -
Beluga in the Seine: veterinarians will "examine" the cetacean
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