Successful first stage of the "exceptional" operation to try to put the beluga back into the sea, lost in the Seine for a week.

The cetacean, whose state of health is worrying, was released on the night of Tuesday August 9 to Wednesday August 10 from the lock of Saint-Pierre-la Garenne (Eure), noted AFP.

Around 4 a.m., after six hours of effort, the nearly 800 kg cetacean was lifted in a net pulled by a crane and placed on a barge, where he was immediately taken care of by a dozen veterinarians.

The beluga, an animal living in cold waters, whose presence in the Seine is exceptional, must then be placed in a refrigerated truck which will transport it out of the water, "on straw or another element of comfort", bound for the coastline, said the secretary general of the prefecture of Eure, Isabelle Dorliat-Pouzet, before the start of the delicate operation.

A basin of seawater, in a lock in the port of Ouistreham (Calvados), was made available to receive the animal, which will remain there for three days, "the time that we organize its repatriation at sea and that 'we are observing his state of health,' according to the sub-prefect.

A necessary but risky operation

Spotted on August 2 in the river, the cetacean has been detained since Friday in the basin of a lock, located 70 km northwest of Paris.

The operation to bring it back to sea, if it is "out of the ordinary", is not without risk for the beluga, already weakened and sensitive to stress, recalled Isabelle Brasseur, from Marineland in Antibes.

"It could be that he dies now, during the manipulation, during the journey or at point B" in Ouistreham, she warned.

The 24 divers involved and the rescuers handling the ropes around the basin had to try several times, between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., to lure the animal into the nets and the structure capable of lifting it out of the water. water, noted AFP journalists.

With AFP

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