French authorities claim the beluga whale they saved from the Seine River was killed while in transit

• Officials have confirmed that a beluga whale that was rescued after spending more than a week trapped in France’s Seine River perished en route to the sea.
• Since August 2, the whale had been trapped in the freshwater lock at St.-Pierre-La-Garenne, which is 45 miles northwest of Paris.
• Following its refusal of food, its health reportedly deteriorated, according to wildlife protection organizations keeping an eye on the situation.

Officials have confirmed that a beluga whale that was rescued after spending more than a week trapped in France’s Seine River perished en route to the sea.

Since August 2, the whale had been trapped in the freshwater lock at St.-Pierre-La-Garenne, which is 45 miles northwest of Paris. Following its refusal of food, its health reportedly deteriorated, according to wildlife protection organizations keeping an eye on the situation.

On August 10, 2022, early in the morning, firefighters and members of a search and rescue team raise a net in an effort to save a beluga whale that had wandered into the Seine River in France.

According to Reuters, it took more than 80 rescuers six hours to free the animal from the lock. It was then put on a barge and given medical attention.

However, because of the animal’s “alarming” weight loss, researchers had to euthanize it shortly after. Officials from the Essonne Department Fire and Rescue Service declared its demise in a video message.

According to Florence Ollivet-Courtois, a veterinarian with the fire and rescue service, “during the trip, the veterinarians noted a deterioration in its condition, particularly in its respiratory activity, and we were able to see that the animal was in anoxia — i.e., insufficiently ventilated — so we were able to see that this animal was obviously suffering and we decided that it was pointless to release it and so we had to proceed with its euthan

The whale was initially expected to be moved to the Normandy region and then released into the sea, according to veterinarians.

It should have weighed roughly 1,200 kilograms, according to Reuters, but it only weighed about 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds) (2,646 pounds).

The Arctic and sub-Arctic regions are the beluga’s native environment. Although the St. Lawrence Estuary in Quebec, Canada, has the most well-known population, the closest population to the French coast is in Svalbard, an archipelago in northern Norway, which is 1,900 miles from the Seine.