updateThe orca that got lost in the Seine in May, west of Paris, had a bullet in its head. This is evident from the autopsy performed on the animal.
“It is impossible to determine when the bullet entered the body,” French authorities said. “It could have happened weeks ago or months ago.” It is also not clear whether the animal was shot before or after her death.
‘Why?’
Environmental organization Sea Shepherd is going to file a complaint with the judiciary. According to the organization there is an ‘attempt to destroy a protected species’. Biologist Lonneke IJsseldijk of Utrecht University says he has never heard of a similar case before. “Why would you shoot an animal?” she wonders. According to her, what may have happened is speculation. “This could be ill will, or maybe someone wanted to put the weakened orca out of her misery.”
For example, in 2020 a harbor porpoise was found with wounds on the beach of Wijk aan Zee. After an autopsy, IJsseldijk concluded that the animal had been stabbed to death. “We suspected at the time that the harbor porpoise was seriously ill and that a bystander stabbed the animal to end its agony.” According to the biologist, it is possible through pathological research to determine whether a marine mammal has been shot before or after its death.
Sea Shepherd says French authorities helped the animal “too late and too little.” The autopsy report shows that the bullet was probably not the cause of death. The authorities have informed the judiciary and it must decide whether further action will be taken.
Severely debilitated
The killer whale was first sighted on May 16 in the Seine, in the Normandy region between Le Havre and Rouen. The animal appeared to be severely weakened. She swam around in the Seine for two weeks, but failed to reach the sea on her own. Attempts to help and guide the orca out to sea were unsuccessful. On May 30, the animal was found dead in the water.
An autopsy was then performed and the first results have now been announced. Contrary to popular belief, it was not a male, but a female. She was 4.26 meters tall and weighed 1,100 kilograms. Her stomach was empty, showing that she was feeding herself poorly. According to the research, fungal patches have been found on the skin that indicate the fungal disease Saprolegnia.
cause of death
“The exact cause of the death cannot be determined yet, but it does not appear to have anything to do with the stay in the Seine,” the researchers write. The most likely cause is general weakness due to insufficient nutrition.
Further investigations are now underway in an effort to establish a definitive cause of death. The killer whale’s skeleton will eventually be displayed in the Natural History Museum, which has several sites across France.
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