Another whale has strayed into the Seine. After a female orca swam up the French river and died in May, this time a beluga whale was sighted. Authorities are now considering how to save the mammal, which is more adapted to cold Arctic waters.
According to a BBC report, the beluga whale is currently near a lock near Vernon, about 70 kilometers northwest of Paris. The public is urged to stay away from the potentially underweight animal. “To all those concerned about the fate of the belugas, keeping your distance is of the utmost importance. Help us to help him by following these instructions, because the welfare of the animal takes precedence over curiosity,” wrote the French NGO Sea Shepherd on Twitter.
“A beluga whale has been spotted in France’s River Seine …
“The challenge now will be to help feed it, and try to accompany it towards the ocean,” Lamya Essemlali, the head of environmental group Sea Shepherd France was quoted as saying …”https://t.co/YIS03J33Hp
— Andy_Weeble_Weaver?⚫???️???? (@AndrewW66619812) August 4, 2022
Experts are puzzled as to why the whale has strayed so far from its natural habitat. “The challenge now is to feed him and try to accompany him towards the ocean,” Lamya Essemlali, head of the environmental protection organization, was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. Lifting the whale out of the water and bringing it back to the sea is out of the question. That’s too risky.
The authorities have not yet given any information on the size of the animal, but an adult white whale, as belugas are also known, can be more than four meters long and weigh several tons. They typically live in arctic and subarctic waters, primarily off the coasts of Alaska, Canada, and Russia. In Europe, their occurrence is actually limited to the extreme north of Norway. Like the closely related narwhals, they have no dorsal fin; their bluish-white to cream-white coloring is also striking.