Whale swims to freedom after days stranded on German beach
dw.com • • world
Key Points:
- A humpback whale stranded on a sand bank at Timmendorfer Strand on Germany's Baltic coast was successfully freed after several days and multiple rescue attempts.
- The 12 to 15-meter-long whale, likely a young male, was helped to return to the sea through a channel dug with heavy machinery, allowing it to gradually regain strength and swim away.
- Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic Sea, and experts believe this individual migrated from the Atlantic, now navigating a complex route past Danish islands towards the North Sea.
- The rescue team used noise to encourage the whale, which responded with humming sounds, and the animal was last seen swimming in the Bay of Lübeck, escorted by police, coast guard, and volunteers.
- Marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann noted that the whale freed itself through its own efforts after regaining strength overnight.
