In France, a beluga, which was washed ashore, was taken from the Seine River

In France, a beluga was taken from the Seine River. It spent a week there.

This is reported by the BBC.

The male beluga was lifted from the water with something like a hammock, and then "loaded" onto a barge. A dozen veterinarians were already waiting for the animal there. It took the team nearly six hours to lift the 800kg whale from the water onto the barge. A total of 80 people, including divers and police officers, were involved in the rescue work.

Before releasing the animal into the open sea, it will be treated — during this period the animal will be in a specially prepared pool. Veterinarians have already established that the beluga does not have infectious diseases, but has digestive problems, which explains why the animal is no longer eating. Doctors will try to stimulate digestion.

The beluga was trapped more than 100 km inland, and her health deteriorated because she could not eat. Until now, rescuers have tried to feed the whale frozen herring and live trout to stimulate its appetite and help it swim back down the river to the English Channel.

Experts wonder how the whale managed to get so far south of its natural habitat, since they mostly live in colder Arctic waters. In the fall, when the ice forms, belugas sometimes head south to feed, but rarely swim that far from their home. According to the French observatory Pelagis, which specializes in marine mammals, the nearest beluga population is near the Svalbard archipelago, north of Norway, 3 000 km from the mouth of the Seine.