The beluga whale which was lifted out of the River Seine earlier on Wednesday has died, despite the mission to save it, according to local authorities.
The whale stranding drew global attention, but the whale did not survive a rescue attempt. Photo: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER
"Despite an unprecedented rescue operation for the beluga, we are sad to announce the death of the cetacean," the prefect of the Calvados department, said on Twitter.
The whale was euthanised after developing breathing difficulties during transport.
The four-metre whale - a protected species usually found in much colder Arctic waters - was stuck in the river, north-west of Paris, for a week.
A dozen vets were waiting on a barge to treat the whale after it was hoisted out the water in a sort of hammock.
About 80 people are involved in the rescue, including divers and police.
It took the rescue team nearly six hours overnight to lift the ailing whale - that weighs 800kg - out of the water and onto a barge.
"It's a long rescue operation, very technical, which required many skills," said Isabelle Dorliat-Pouzet, secretary general of the Eure prefecture.
The beluga was trapped more than 100km inland and its health deteriorated after failing to eat.
People gathered on the banks of the river at Saint-Pierre-La-Garenne in Normandy to watch the rescue - as interest in the whale's survival spread beyond France.
Experts are puzzled how the whale managed to stray so far south from its natural habitat.
Belugas occasionally venture south in the autumn to feed as ice forms, but it is rare for them to travel so far from their native home.
According to France's Pelagis Observatory which specialises in sea mammals, the nearest beluga population is off the Svalbard archipelago, north of Norway, 3000km from the Seine.
- Reuters/BBC