The French authorities have sighted an orca in the Seine River that would have gone missing and needs to return to the sea as soon as possible.
The 4-meter killer whale was first seen at the river’s mouth on May 16 between the port of Le Havre and the Normandy city of Honfleur, but has since traveled tens of kilometers (miles) upriver and is now it is west of the city of Rouen.
I hope this lost orca stuck in La Seine river in France will find his way back to the ocean very soon. 🙏🙏🙏 https://t.co/E1a0Aa78zK
— Leo’s Animal Planet #STOPTHEGRIND 🐬🐳 (@LeosAnimalPlan1) May 25, 2022
Several French media outlets showed images of the orca in the river, its dorsal fin sticking out of the water and showing its distinctive black and white color as it comes up for air. No rescue attempts are being made for fear of further stressing the animal, authorities said.
“Its dorsal fin is crooked, which is a sign of poor health for killer whales. It has lost a lot of weight, it seems that this animal is in poor condition,” Nicolas Ampen, of the French Office for Biodiversity in France, told TF1 television. Normandy. .
In May 2021, a gray whale was lost in the Mediterranean, thousands of miles (km) away from its natural habitat in the Pacific Ocean, drifting along the French coast for days before biologists lost their trace