The beluga whale stranded in the river Seine in northern France was removed from the water early Wednesday in the first stage of a rescue operation, an AFP journalist said. Previously, the four-meter-long (13-foot-long) whale has been stranded there for a week. It is suspected that the whale is sick and it is just a matter of time to save the whale for survival.
After nearly six hours of work, the 800-kilogram (1,800 pounds) cetacean was lifted from the river by a net and crane at around 4:00 am (0200 GMT) and placed on a barge under the immediate care of a dozen veterinarians.
Some interesting facts to know, the Beluga whale is actually an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is considered to be one of the members of the Monodontidae family. The other one would be the narwhal. Other than that, its more familiar name is the white whale. This is because it is the only cetacean to regularly occur with this color.
It has a particular bulge at the front of its head which houses an echolocation organ called the melon, which in this species is expansive and deformable. The beluga’s body measurement is between that of a dolphin and a genuine whale, with its own measurement developing up to 5.5 m (18 ft) long and weighing up to 1,600 kg (3,530 lb).
Sources: AFP