PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) – A plan has been hatched to guide an orca drifting in the Seine towards the sea using sounds from its fellow whales, Seine-Maritime authorities said on Friday.
Following a meeting with French and international scientists, including marine mammal specialists, the Seine-Maritime prefecture indicated that it would monitor the killer whale from a distance using a drone while broadcasting sounds of her fellows in an attempt to bring her back to the sea.
“The use of these minimally invasive methods, several hundred meters away, makes it possible to avoid the intervention of ships in the immediate vicinity of the animal, which could aggravate its state of stress and endanger its survival, as well as the safety of the responders. “, said the prefecture in a press release published 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 spotted for the first time 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 in upstream to be at the height of the city of Rouen.
(Report Mimosa Spencer; French version Camille Raynaud)