The sword-winged dolphin, which strayed into the Seine, cannot be returned to the sea, so on Sunday French authorities decided to sedate the apparently ill and suffering animal.
Saturday’s rescue failed, and experts found that a stray specimen of a marine mammal, also known as a killer whale, was suffering from advanced mucosal mycosis, also known as black fungus infection, which has not yet occurred in North American whales.
The four-meter-old male orc was first seen on May 16 at the mouth of the Seine between the port of Le Havre and the town of Honfleur in Normandy, then swam 60 miles upriver, reached the town of Yenneville and approached Rouen. about history Origo wrote in this article.
In consultation with local and foreign scientists, including marine mammal experts, local authorities on Saturday were still trying to lure the animal back into the sea using dolphin sound devices, including a drone.
However, the sword-winged dolphin reacted befuddled to the sounds, not swimming toward the sea, but merely wriggling between the shores, making sounds that scientists say resembled the alarms of a species. To save the animal from further stress, the rescue attempt was abandoned on Sunday afternoon.Due to the failure of the rescue operation and the desperate health of the dolphin, in order to save the animal from further suffering, the French authorities finally decided to permanently re-anesthetize the painful orca on a boat Sunday night. At the same time, the goal of the procedure was to prevent the inevitable animal from infecting other debilitated mammals.
The fungus infects the skin of a weakened animal, penetrates into the internal organs, heart, lungs and brain, the latter also explains the confused behavior of dolphins roaming the Seine. According to the researchers, the disease appears to have been at a very advanced stage in the animal and is believed to have caused unbearable suffering.
