Struggling humpback whale stranded for third time on German coast | Germany

The fate of the humpback whale stranded in shallow bays on Germany’s Baltic coast remains uncertain after it stranded for the third time.

The nearly 10-meter-long (33 ft) mammal appeared emaciated and sick on Sunday and was struggling to find a way back into the Atlantic as it faced new challenges.

“Overall, the prognosis does not look good,” marine scientist Burkard Baschek told reporters after conducting an assessment at the scene on Sunday.

Scientists say the whale’s breathing rate decreased and it no longer responded to nearby vessels.

Till Backhaus, environment minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, said at a press conference in the coastal town of Wismar earlier in the day that a limited area of ​​500 meters was established around the animal before the latest stranding, giving it a chance to rest and free itself..

“He can do that if he regains his strength, and so we decided to leave him alone, let him actually take off and then successfully leave this area,” Backhaus said. “But we must also assume that he is emaciated. He is also ill.” It is thought that the fishing net may have harmed the whale.

Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic and experts suspect the young whale, thought to be a male, was following a school of fish or became disoriented due to the noise of a submarine. Baltic waters lack the salt concentration and type of nutrition humpback whales need to survive long-term.

The whale was first spotted in the Baltic on March 3 and was reported stranded on a beach last week. Guests of a hotel in Niendorf notified the police when they heard the hotel’s deep groans.

Authorities used an excavator to deepen a channel and boats to create waves to help free the mammal, nicknamed Timmy after the Timmendorfer Strand beach in Wismar Bay. News alerts about the drama captivated the German public.

The whale freed itself from the beach on Friday and was escorted by a flotilla of ships hoping to guide it from German and Danish waters into the Atlantic. But the whale became stranded on another beach on Saturday and was stranded once again on Sunday.

“It is very striking that the animal showed significantly less activity. Its breathing rate decreased significantly. The animal does not move. It did not even react when we approached,” Stephanie Gross, of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research at the Hanover Veterinary University, told the AP.

Baschek, director of the German Maritime Museum in Stralsund, said that even if the whale freed itself again, it would have to navigate narrow straits and about 310 miles to reach relative safety. “The chances of success are relatively slim,” he said.