A young humpback whale that was rescued from a sandbank off Germany's Baltic coast has become stranded again, this time in the Baltic Sea near Denmark. The whale, nicknamed Timmy or Hope, was released into the North Sea on Thursday after a privately funded rescue operation, but it has since been spotted in shallow waters off the Danish coast.
The 10-metre-long calf was initially stranded in Wismar Bay near Lübeck nearly six weeks ago. Despite efforts by German authorities and marine experts, the whale's health deteriorated, leading officials to abandon rescue attempts. However, after the whale gained national attention, two multimillionaires funded a plan to transport it by water-filled barge to the North Sea.
The rescue was criticised by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as 'inadvisable' because the whale appeared 'severely compromised' and unlikely to survive. Experts from the Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund also recommended leaving the whale to die peacefully, with director Burkard Baschek calling the rescue attempt 'pure animal cruelty'.
The whale was released near Denmark, and the Danish environment ministry has stated it will not intervene if the whale becomes stranded again, describing beaching as a 'completely natural phenomenon'. The whale has been fitted with a tracker to monitor its movements.
