London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

France to rescue whale stranded in Seine and send it to saltwater

France to rescue whale stranded in Seine and send it to saltwater

A four-meter-long whale has been stranded in a river since last week and is now fighting for its life until transfer.

French environmentalists and marine experts have started preparations to move a beluga whale that strayed into the Seine River last week to a saltwater basin in Normandy, hoping to save the life of the dangerously thin marine mammal, which is already sick and malnourished.

A medical team plans to transport the four-metre-long (13-foot-long) whale to a coastal spot in the northeastern French port town of Ouistreham for “a period of care,” Lamya Essemlali, president of the conservation group Sea Shepherd France, said on Tuesday.

Experts think the whale is sick and in a race against time for survival, she said.

The whale would remain in its temporary saltwater home for “two to three days” of surveillance and treatment before being towed out to sea, according to Isabelle Dorliat Pouzet, deputy prefect of the town of Evreux.

Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, said the ethereal white mammal measuring four metres will be transported to the salty water for ‘a period of care’ by medics who suspect the mammal is sick


“Then, nature will take its course,” Pouzet said. “We have to be optimistic… the work has been painstakingly prepared.”

A team of some 80 people, including veterinarians and environmentalists, gathered Tuesday near a Seine River lock in the Eure region to plot the exodus of the new local celebrity.

“What’s exceptional is that here the banks of the Seine are not accessible for vehicles … everything is going to have to be done by hand,” Isabelle Brasseur of the Marineland sea animal park in southern France, Europe’s biggest, told AFP.

Conservations groups said it would take 24 people to load the beluga into a refrigerated truck for the approximately 160km (99-mile) trip to Ouistreham, describing the saltwater transfer as an “enormous operation.”

Because the region is experiencing extreme heat, the team plans to wait until nightfall before moving the ethereal white creature. It weighs about 800kg (1,764lb).

Rescuers hope to spare the whale the fate of an orca that strayed into the Seine and died in May.

A French Air Force helicopter flies over the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garenne lock as French authorities try to rescue a beluga whale on the Seine River in Saint-Pierre-la-Garenne, France


Authorities said that while the move carries its own mortality risk because of the stress on the animal, the whale can’t survive much longer in the Seine’s freshwater habitat.

They remain hopeful it will survive after it responded to a cocktail of antibiotics and vitamins administered in the last few days and rubbed itself on the lock’s wall to remove patches that had appeared on its back.

Sea Shepherd’s Essemlali said medical surveillance at the saltwater basin would help establish whether the whale “is suffering from something we can help it with or from an incurable illness”.

Conservationists have tried unsuccessfully since Friday to feed fish to the beluga. Sea Shepherd fears the whale is slowly starving in the waterway.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×