A beluga whale that had strayed into France’s River Seine has been euthanised, French authorities have said.

An operation to move the animal, which had been trapped since last Friday, began in the early hours of this morning.

A team of around 24 experts and many other volunteers used a crane and nets to load the whale into a refrigerated truck for a 99-mile (160-kilometre) trip to the northeastern French port town of Ouistreham.

However, it developed breathing difficulties during its transfer from the Paris waterway to the coast and had to be euthanised.

“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.

It had been a risky move from the outset, and there were concerns that moving the whale could cause it harm.

Conservation specialist Isabelle Brasseur said “he could die now, during the lifting”, but she said it was still more “important to try”.

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Veterinary examinations after it was moved revealed the dangerously thin beluga whale had no digestive activity for unknown reasons.

Ever since the whale strayed into a saltwater basin in the Normandy region, efforts had been under way to free it, amid fears over its rapidly declining health.

Whale refused all food

It was spotted in the French waterway on Wednesday after straying thousands of miles away from its home in the Arctic. The underwater noise from ships and boats is believed to have confused the whale.

But the beluga swam away from boats trying to guide it towards the river mouth, between the sea ports of Le Havre and Honfleur on Friday, ultimately becoming trapped.

A team of vets had hoped to re-stimulate the whale’s digestive system and encourage it to eat. Conservationists had been trying, unsuccessfully, to feed it fish since it was first found last week.

However, the whale refused all food and there were concerns it could starve to death.

There had been hopes the animal would survive after it responded to a cocktail of antibiotics and vitamins administered in the last few days and rubbed itself on the lock’s wall to remove patches that had appeared on its back.

In May last year a minke whale had to be euthanised after it became stranded in the River Thames.

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