The autopsy of the beluga euthanized Wednesday after more than a week of wandering in the Seine, was carried out the same day but its results are not yet known, said Thursday the prefecture of Calvados questioned by AFP.
“The necropsy of the beluga was carried out yesterday Wednesday August 11”
, indicates the prefecture in an email.
“At the moment, the results are not known.
Analyzes are in progress.
We will communicate when the time comes on the conclusions”,
indicates the institution without further details.
many mysteries
Aged, very thin and weakened, the 800 kg cetacean had been extracted from a lock on the Seine during a risky operation on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday but he had to be euthanized on Wednesday, after his arrival by truck in Ouistreham (Calvados).
Firefighter veterinarian Florence Ollivet-Courtois explained during a press briefing that the animal's condition had deteriorated during transport and that he was suffering from severe respiratory failure.
The veterinarian added that the autopsy, conducted by the Pelagis observatory, specialist in marine mammals, would be
“important”
to find out the reasons for the death of the beluga.
It could also help to understand how this animal used to cold water ended up in the Seine, according to Florence Ollivet-Courtois.
A killer whale had already been observed in the river in May, between Rouen and Le Havre.
She had finally been found dead and an autopsy had favored death by starvation.
If the outcome of the rescue attempt had been happier for the beluga, the animal was supposed to stay a few days in a seawater lock in the port of Ouistreham before being released offshore.
Read alsoThe beluga died during its transfer to Ouistreham
Spotted on August 2 in the river, the cetacean had been detained since Friday in the basin of a lock, located 70 km northwest of Paris.
But he could not hope to survive in unsalted water at 25C with pollution or sound elements incompatible with his survival, according to specialists.
The beluga usually lives in arctic and subarctic waters.
It is, according to Pélagis, the second beluga known in France after a fisherman from the Loire estuary had brought one up in his nets in 1948.
