Rescuers have planned another operation to free a humpback whale that has become stranded on a sandbank along the Schleswig-Holstein Baltic coast. Authorities are assessing whether the seabed can be deepened to allow the whale to swim free, according to Ursula Siebert, Director of the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), who spoke to AFP news agency on Tuesday in Hanover. Technical options for such an operation are currently being evaluated.
The animal was first spotted on a sandbank in Lübeck Bay near Niendorf during the night of Monday. Multiple rescue attempts have since failed. Among the methods tried, waves were generated using boats to help the whale return to deeper water. However, rescuers did succeed in freeing the whale from parts of a net that had been wrapped around its body.
According to marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd, the whale's health condition has visibly deteriorated. Significant growth is visible on the animal as a result of a skin disease, Sea Shepherd member Carsten Manheimer told AFP. The disease is likely a consequence of the Baltic Sea's low salt content.
Pulling the whale into deeper water is not an option, Manheimer explained. The animal is already weakened and may have too few muscles to resist. Such an action would therefore potentially cause more harm than good to the whale, the marine conservationist emphasized.
ITAW Director Siebert offered a somewhat more positive assessment of the situation. The whale is still agile enough that another rescue attempt is being planned, she said. What the operation will specifically entail remains unclear, Siebert stated. One possibility under consideration is removing sand and sediment using a dredging vessel.
Meanwhile, police continued to work in cooperation with the local municipality to ensure the whale was not disturbed by onlookers. Construction fences were erected on the beach, and boats patrolled the waters. It is possible that the stranded animal is the same whale that became entangled in a fishing net about two weeks ago off the Baltic coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern near Steinbeck. A week before that incident, a whale was also sighted in the port of Wismar.
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