PARIS (Reuters) – A plan has been drawn up to guide an orca adrift in the Seine towards the sea using sounds from its conspecifics, Seine-Maritime authorities said on Friday.
Following a meeting with French and international scientists, including marine mammal specialists, the Seine-Maritime prefecture said it would monitor the killer whale remotely using a drone while by broadcasting sounds of its congeners in an attempt to bring it back to the sea.
“The use of these minimally invasive methods, several hundred meters away, makes it possible to avoid the intervention of vessels in the immediate vicinity of the animal, which could aggravate its state of stress and endanger its survival, such as the safety of responders,” said the prefecture in a statement posted on Twitter.
The cetacean, whose state of health is deteriorating in fresh water, moved away from the ocean at the beginning of the month, and is in danger of dying.
The 4-meter orca, identified as a male, was first spotted at the mouth of the Seine on May 16 between the port of Le Havre and the town of Honfleur in Normandy, before ascending tens of kilometers upstream to reach the city of Rouen.
(Report Mimosa Spencer; French version Camille Raynaud)
click here for restrictions
©2022 Reuters
