Efforts ongoing to rescue whale stranded off Germany’s Baltic coast

A stranded humpback whale, whose fate has gripped Germany and beyond for more than a month, remained lying in shallow waters off the island of Poel near Wismar on the Baltic Sea coast on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Environment Ministry of the north-eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern said no information on the current state of the 12-metre whale’s health could be provided.

Dozens of big bags filled with sand are currently being loaded onto a floating platform at Kirchdorf, the island’s main harbour. They are to be used to support the whale in the gully where it is lying and to keep it from entering even shallower waters.

According to a local businessman in charge of the excavation work, a channel of some 100 metres leading to deeper water should be completed during the course of Saturday, with a private initiative aiming to guide the whale out to sea on Sunday or Monday.

Kirsten Tönnies, the vet employed by the initiative, said on Friday evening that the barge to be used for the attempted rescue had been delayed. Tönnies was unable to say when it would be ready.

The whale, nicknamed Timmy by German media, briefly swam free on Monday after being stuck for three weeks in one spot but stopped after about two hours near the entrance of Wismar Bay, which leads to the Baltic Sea.

A tracking device has since been attached in case it moves again.

Timmy has been stranded in Wismar Bay since March 31 after repeatedly running aground in previous weeks at various points along the Baltic coast.

Authorities had authorized a last-ditch private rescue mission last week after several attempts by government-backed rescuers failed to free the animal, with fears rising that it might perish off the German coast.