Rescuers are continuing to try and save a stranded humpback whale off Germany's north coast. The marine mammal, which is stuck on a sandbank, was first spotted in Lübeck Bay on Monday.
Diggers have been deployed to dredge a channel back into deeper waters. Characterized as a race against time, the rescue mission's attracting huge interest, with live broadcasts from Timmendorfer Strand, a seaside town in Schleswig-Holstein.
Estimated at being 12 to 15 meters long and weighing around 15 tons, it is believed that the whale may have previously become entangled in a fishing net, with rope still stuck in its mouth. Experts indicate it might be a young male who wandered into shallow waters.
According to reports, other speculations suggest he could have been seeking a final resting place, but the exact reasons for the whale's stranding remain unknown.
Warnings indicate that the chances of saving him are very slim, but rescuers are determined to continue their efforts. For the whale, this is obviously a stressful situation, said Stephanie Gross from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research. He's been here in the shallow water for three days now and isn't feeding at all at the moment, although animals can typically go without food for weeks.
Conditions along the shoreline have been challenging, with an icy easterly wind complicating rescue efforts. The whale's weight and weakened state pose additional obstacles. Divers have been attempting to get a closer look, with marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann noting that the whale's skin looks terrible but it is responsive.
It's reacting, it has both eyes open, it's vocalizing, but it's incredibly uncertain and scared, Lehmann stated. So far, additional methods to coax the whale back to sea, such as using high tide and creating large waves with boats, have not succeeded.
I hope the channel is deep enough that material will slide down and that this will motivate the whale to swim in. If not, then he'll have to be given a little nudge, Lehmann commented.
