A humpback whale trapped in shallow waters off the Baltic coast of northern Germany has broken free after a painstaking operation that lasted more than 76 hours.
Rescuers had been racing against time to save the life of the 33ft-long mammal – drafting in coastguards and police – in an urgent mission that was livestreamed from Timmendorfer Strand, a resort in Schleswig-Holstein.
Weak and disoriented, the animal was first spotted by members of the public on Monday, stuck on a sandbank, with rope and net hanging from its mouth.
Marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann, who was the first to enter the water to examine the humpback, gave it a 0.1 percent chance of survival earlier in the week, stressing that it was in the “worst possible situation”.
Numerous rescue attempts failed to coach it back toward deeper water. Coastguard and fire department boats were sent to create large waves, alas without success.
Drones had also been dispatched to check on the condition of the whale, which weighs about 15 tonnes, and its position from above.
What made the operation even harder is that the Baltic Sea lacks strong tides, which would have given the stranded animal the necessary push to free itself.
Any attempts to drag it back to deeper water could have also led to serious injuries.
Lehmann told reporters on Thursday that the whale was “visibly suffering,” but was still reactive. He had previously said that it was in “poor health,” and that it had not eaten in a long time.
Eventually, two diggers were deployed to create a channel for it to escape.
Shortly after 7pm, the whale suddenly started to move, giving some hope to the teams on site and the onlookers who had gathered at the beach to observe the operation.
Rescuers tried to encourage it to swim further into the Baltic Sea, but it remained motionless and fears were mounting that it was going to die.
Crews withdrew about an hour and a half later after the last-ditch efforts to save the animal.
Then, in a twist, Mother Nature intervened. Sebastian Stoll, coordinator at the scene, told BILD that strong winds had pushed water into Lubeck Bay during the night, raising levels by half a metre.
By the early hours of this morning, the humpback was no longer stranded, and was 1,000 feet off the coast.
Mayor of Timmendorfer Strand, Sven Partheil-Bohnke, expresses his relief that the mammal was now safe.
“I am simply happy,” he said, as reported by German broadcaster NDR. “I think all the rescuers were pleased that all their digging had paid off.”
But Lehmann cautioned that this was only a small step in the right direction, and that it would only be at home again if it reached the Atlantic Ocean – some 600 nautical miles away.
The whale is now under a “police escort” with support from as many as six vessels, including the coastguard and the German Life Saving Association.
Rescuers are trying to guide it as it makes its way through Danish waters and out into the North Sea, before finally passing into the Atlantic Ocean.
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