France: A Beluga whale stranded in the Seine in northern France was removed from the river on Wednesday in the first attempt of an operation to rescue an animal.
The 800 kg (1800- lb) Whale was lifted from the river after almost 6 hours of work using a net and the crane at 4:00 and placed on a barge under the immediate care of 16 veterinarians.
A medical team decided to transport the Whale to the French port town of ouistreham in Normandy, where its health would be monitored in a saltwater basin near the Sea.
The whale conservationist trying to feed the Beluga whale since Friday but didn’t succeed and feared it was wasting away. Local authorities said they provide beluga with a cocktail of vitamins and anti-biotics, and it had shown signs of improvements after receiving it.
Isabelle Brasseur of the Marineland sea animal park in southern France, who is a part of the rescue team that also includes the NGO Sea Shepheard France, said, The exceptional “operation to return beluga to the sea is not without the risk for the Whale”.
It could even die during the handling, the journey or at point B”.
Some 24 divers were involved in extracting Whale from the river ‘while the people remained on the bank all night to observe the Beluga operation.
