A bullet was found at the base of the skull of the orca who died at the end of May in the Seine.

The autopsy, however, favors death by starvation, because “no certainty can be drawn at this stage”, indicated this Wednesday the prefecture of Seine-Maritime.

It is indeed "not possible to date the moment when the bullet penetrated the body of the animal", specifies a press release from the prefecture.

The public prosecutor of Rouen has been informed of this discovery and “will determine the follow-up he wishes to give to it”.

Results of the necropsy: Sedna, the wandering killer whale in the Seine died of starvation.

He had also been shot in the head several weeks/months before.

We are filing a complaint against X for attempting to destroy a protected species.

https://t.co/JrwilStdbB

— Sea Shepherd France (@SeaShepherdFran) July 6, 2022


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Inanition due to the isolation of the orca

For its part, Sea Shepherd France announced on Twitter its intention to file a complaint against X for "attempt to destroy a protected species".

"If the exact cause of death is not known, the elements collected indicate that his death is not directly linked to his passage in the Seine", adds the prefecture in its press release.

The first results of the post-mortem examinations lead to favor the hypothesis of death by starvation (state of weakness due to the cessation of food).

This state of weakness could be explained by the isolation of the killer whale, which usually evolves in a group.

The necropsy carried out on May 31 confirmed the "poor physical condition" of the orca.

The cetacean, an "immature" female more than 4 m long and weighing around 1,100 kg, had been spotted in the Seine at the end of May for several days before being found dead.

Further test results are expected in the coming months.

The skeleton will then be prepared and sent to the marine mammal reserve of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

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