Rescue crews in northern Germany are working to save a humpback whale that has become stranded in shallow water off the Baltic Sea coast in Lübeck Bay, according to CNN affiliate RTL.
Rescue crews in northern Germany are working to save a humpback whale that has become stranded in shallow water off the Baltic Sea coast in Lübeck Bay, according to CNN affiliate RTL. The whale was discovered early Monday in the Niendorf district of Timmendorfer Strand, RTL reported, and authorities began an effort to guide it back to deeper water.
Police said they intended to use “every possible means” to help the animal reach a point where it can swim away again. Video published by RTL showed rescuers attempting to move the whale toward open water, but the initial efforts were unsuccessful. Experts from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research in Büsum have been deployed to the scene. Officials believe the stranded whale may be the same animal that has been repeatedly sighted in the Baltic Sea in recent weeks. The whale is estimated to be 12 to 15 meters long and weigh about 15 tons, ITAW told CNN affiliate ZDF. It was first spotted at the beginning of the month in Wismar harbor, where emergency services largely freed it from a fishing net in which it had become entangled, RTL reported. Last Friday, the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd said it removed additional remnants of fishing gear from a humpback whale off Travemünde, raising the possibility it is the same animal now stranded near Niendorf, a few miles away. Local public broadcaster NDR reported that the whale has moved and turned slightly since the rescue operation got underway. NDR said a dredger and excavators on land are being used to dig a channel that could allow the whale to reach deeper water. Buoys are being anchored to mark water depth and guide the dredger’s work, ITAW’s Stephanie Groß told NDR, noting that the operation is taking place close to the whale’s head. The plan, she said, is to create a channel about 50 meters long, six meters wide and 1.2 meters deep. Rescuers and wildlife experts are continuing efforts to prevent the animal from becoming further stressed while heavy equipment works nearby, Groß added. Even if the whale is freed, experts warned it may struggle to navigate out of the Baltic Sea, which is not a natural habitat for humpbacks. Jan Herrmann, a veterinarian and whale expert, told ZDF the Baltic is a “bottleneck,” noting there is no guarantee the whale will find the exit route back through Danish waters.
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