Berlin– a whale that was stuck for days The man swam free from a sand bank overnight after a final rescue attempt in shallow water at a resort on the Baltic Sea in Germany. But it is not out of danger yet.
An excavator digs an escape channel on Thursday. Marine biologist Robert Mark Lehmann said Friday that the whale remained swimming in it throughout the night, German news agency dpa reported.
But he cautioned that this is a small step in the right direction for the 12-15 meters (39-49 feet) long marine mammal, and it will only truly be at home again when it reaches the Atlantic Ocean.
The whale was spotted stranded on an underwater sandbank off Timmendorfer Strand, a popular resort town, on Monday morning. Initial efforts to free it and move it back to deeper water, including using Coast Guard and fire department boats to create large waves, were unsuccessful. The Baltic Sea lacks strong tides that could free the whales.
Thursday morning, rescuers brought in excavators to dig a trench in front of the whale’s head, while Lehman approached the animal and guided the dig. They worked until well after sunset, but they were not able to get the whale out by the time they had to close for the night.
Stephanie Gross of the Institute of Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research said that on Friday morning, the whales were moving out of Lübeck Bay, where Timmendorfer Strand is located. He said the giant mammal, which was about 300 meters (about 1,000 feet) off the coast, was being escorted by a coast guard ship and several boats.
Experts believe the whale is a young male, because males, unlike females, migrate. It appears to be the same whale that has been seen several times in recent weeks in the port of Wismar, east of Timmendorfer Strand.
It was not immediately clear why the whale was in that area and became stranded.
Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic. If it is to reach the North Sea it faces a journey of several hundred kilometers (miles) through German and Danish waters.
