The orca in difficulty in the Seine between Rouen and Le Havre was found dead at the end of the morning, Monday May 30, announced Sea Shepherd France on Twitter. “We are currently with her to prevent her body from being hit by a ship, which would compromise the autopsy. We are waiting for the team mobilized by the State to recover it, “said the NGO dedicated to the defense and protection of the ocean.
The orca, whose state of health had been deemed “alarming” by the veterinarian, had to be euthanized, the Seine-Maritime prefecture said on Sunday, after operations to guide it to the sea using stimuli sound had failed. The animal was probably suffering from “Generalized Mycosis of the Mucormycosis type”, an emerging disease observed in marine mammals in different parts of the world, particularly in North America.
“Cries of Distress”
“This is a condition (…) likely to affect immunocompromised animals” and experts confirmed that the disease has reached “a very advanced stage, to the point that it would cause significant human suffering. animal, “said the prefecture.
The orca was first spotted on May 16 between Honfleur and Le Havre, near the Pont de Normandie. The animal had probably arrived “already weakened” towards the Seine estuary, said Gérard Mauger, vice-president of the Cotentin Cetacean Study Group (GECC).
Operations around the animal in the Seine had “highlighted a lack of liveliness, inconsistent reactions to sound stimuli and erratic and disoriented behavior of the orca”, according to the prefecture, which added that sound recordings had also revealed “vocalizations similar to cries of distress”.
