The previous attempts to feed a severely undernourished Beluga whale that got lost in the Seine River in France failed. So, the scientists are working to free the whale from the river lock where it is stuck, according to environmentalists said Monday.
Efforts to Feed Beluga Whale in France's River Seine Fails So Far
Sea Shepherd France, a marine conservation organization, mentioned in an ABC News report that efforts to feed the seal are ongoing and to figure out how to get it out of the lock in the best possible conditions.
According to experts at the location, the beluga should not linger in the warm, stagnant water between lock gates for an extended time.
"The beluga is still not feeding (a priori), but it continues to be curious," tweeted Sea Shepherd France.
The missing beluga was first spotted last week in a river in France, far from its native Arctic home. French fire departments' drone film captured the whale peacefully meandering in a section of the river's bright green waters between Paris and Rouen in Normandy, hundreds of kilometers (miles) inland from the ocean.
Since Friday, experts have unsuccessfully attempted to feed the beluga with live and dead herrings. Sea Shepherd worries that the whale may eventually die in the canal.
According to local officials and vets, the whale received some medical care, vitamins, and items to increase its appetite.
ATLANTA - NOVEMBER 19: One of five Beluga Whales swim in Cold Water Quest exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium November 19, 2005 in Atlanta, Goergia. The Georgia Aquarium, the world'd largest by gallons, 8 million plus, and by the number of fish, 100,000 plus, opens to the public November 23, 2005. Funding for the Georgia Aquarium was made possible by a 200 million dollar gift from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and his wife Billi through the Marcus Foundation.
Rescue Efforts to Save Beluga
Since last Friday, environmentalists have been striving to feed the creature a catch of herring.
The whale displays a "fleeing behavior vis-à-vis the boats," according to authorities in the l'Eure area, and has not reacted to attempts to lead it to safer waters.
Sources also mentioned that those attempting to help him are being as discrete as they can to avoid the stress that could aggravate his state of health.
"It's quite an impressive animal, which is white and which seems calm. It doesn't seem stressed, surfacing regularly," fire service officer Patrick Herot, from Normandy's Eure region, told French broadcaster TF1 (via Metro),
It is anticipated that the whale will slowly starve to death if rescuers cannot save it soon.
The Seine's warm water endangers the animal's health. Hence, France24 mentioned that rescuers are considering last-ditch measures to get it out.
Authorities said that one option would be to open the locks and wait for the beluga to swim toward the English Channel.
Opening the locks would put Paris in even greater danger of the whale traveling farther upriver, which would be terrible.
After several unsuccessful attempts to feed the whale, the authorities thought of injecting the animal with vitamins to increase its appetite.
Sea Shepherd France head Lamya Essemlali told the AFP news agency (via BBC News) that experts still have "little hope" for the severely underweight whale.
Essemlali noted that the crew continues to worry about the whale's capacity to return to the sea on its own. Even if the team used a boat to "drive" the animal there, it would be exceedingly risky if not impossible to do so.
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