A humpback whale that strayed into the Baltic Sea ended up beached at a German seaside resort. After several hours of rescue efforts, it was able to swim away! On Monday morning, beachgoers reported a whale at least 30 feet long. The enormous animal had gotten stranded on an aquatic sandbar off the coast of Timmendorfer Strand, a busy tourist attraction. What makes it special Its presence in the Baltic Sea is definitely unusual, as humpback whales are not native to this region.
The whale ended up about 300 meters from the beach in Timmendorfer Strand, stuck in a sand bank of shallow waters. Because the Baltic Sea doesn’t have strong tides, the whale wouldn’t have been able to free itself on its own. Once rescuers learned of the marooned mammal, they jumped to action. Despite nearly around-the-clock efforts through the first day’s sunset, their collective push did not succeed, leaving them with no choice but to stop for the night.
As part of the rescue operation, a coast guard ship and several boats accompanied the whale while rescuers devised a plan. On Thursday morning, workers began to bring in an excavator. It started to burrow a trench in front of the whale’s head to form an escape channel. Marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann approached the whale to guide the digging process, ensuring that the rescue efforts were as safe and efficient as possible.
After 30 hours of work through the night, rescuers were finally able to dig an underwater trench deep enough to let the whale escape. The animal was determined to swim away from the sandbank overnight, but this was a triumphant conclusion to a dramatic episode. According to wildlife biologist Stephanie Gross—currently from the Institute of Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research—the whale had wafted past Lübeck Bay. It was heading out to deeper waters.
