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Rescuers have abandoned hope for a humpback whale repeatedly stranded off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, now expecting the animal to die in the inlet where it currently lies.
The whale became stuck again on Tuesday after swimming into an inlet on the small island of Poel, near the port of Wismar.
Just last week, it had been freed from even shallower waters at Timmendorfer Strand, a resort town approximately 50 kilometres from its present location, with the aid of an excavator. However, it soon encountered difficulties once more.
In recent days, authorities had adopted a strategy of providing the exhausted mammal with peace and quiet, hoping it would gather enough strength to swim away independently, while occasionally using boats to encourage it to move.
However, Burkard Baschek, scientific director of the Ocean Museum Germany and coordinator of the rescue effort, reported on Wednesday that the whale was breathing at highly irregular intervals.
Drone photographs revealed minimal activity in the sediment beneath the 12-15 metre animal, which barely reacted when approached.
While the whale showed slightly more activity after rescuers departed, Baschek stated at a televised news conference: “but it is not activity that gives us grounds for hope. We firmly believe that the animal will die there.”
While the whale on two previous occasions was able to gather enough strength to free itself, it is now weaker and also faces falling water levels, “and the prospects that it will free itself are very small,” he said.
“The approach of maximum rest and respect for nature demands at some point that we let it go.”
The drama captivated Germans, with the media sending detailed updates on its progress. The whale acquired the nickname “Timmy” during its coastal odyssey.
It was first spotted swimming in the region on March 3. It is not clear why the whale swam into the Baltic Sea, which is far from its natural habitat and it isn’t suited to. Some experts say the animal may have lost its way when it swam after a shoal of herring, or during migration.
The animal always faced long odds to find its way out into the North Sea, itself a journey of several hundred kilometers (miles), and then to the Atlantic Ocean.
