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Berlin: A rescue team has released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said.
Nicknamed “Timmy” by German media, the whale was spotted swimming near Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.
The mammal’s health deteriorated as it repeatedly became stranded in shallow waters near the coastal city of Wismar, and unsuccessful efforts to coax it into deeper waters were livestreamed across the globe.
The environment minister for Germany’s Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state gave the green light for the attempt to save the whale, proposed by a private initiative funded by two German millionaires, despite some warnings from the scientific community that it may be too much for the animal.
The juvenile male was guided through a newly dredged channel onto a water-filled barge normally used to transport ships before heading to the North Sea, according to the initiative’s organisers, cited by local media.
Jens Schwarck, a member of the initiative who was on-site, said the whale was released about 9am on Saturday (German time), according to the German news agency dpa. The agency reported that the whale was released 70 kilometres from the coast of Skagen, Denmark.
Drone footage showed a whale swimming and spouting water near the barge, though it was not immediately confirmed that the animal was indeed Timmy.
“He is doing well,” Walter Gunz, one of the millionaires leading the rescue effort, told The New York Times in a message, adding that the whale had blown a “great fountain” as it swam away.
A debate emerged over whether to let the whale die in peace or try to assist its return to the Atlantic Ocean. Activists staged protests on the beach in Wismar, calling for its liberation, while others have supported new ideas about how the whale could be transported.
Some scientists believe the whale had searched for shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest. The veterinarians of the private initiative, however, considered the animal fit for transport.
Before the release, a GPS transmitter was reportedly attached to track the whale’s future location, according to dpa.
It is not clear why the whale swam into the Baltic Sea, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean. Some experts say the animal may have lost its way while swimming after a shoal of herring or during migration.
After becoming stranded, the mammal was in clear distress, breathing irregularly and often barely moving for days. Timmy also suffered from a bad skin condition, related to the Baltic Sea’s low salt content, to which rescuers applied kilograms of zinc ointment.
Local media produced days-long livestreams to feed the outsized public attention over the whale’s fate. Online newspapers blasted push alerts with the smallest developments about Timmy’s health.
On the other side of the Atlantic, an intrepid sea lion nicknamed Chonkers is waddling his way into the hearts of tourists and locals, who flocked to San Francisco’s Pier 39 for a glimpse of the massive pinniped.
“He’s like a Volkswagen! He’s so huge!” said Oluwaseyi Akinbobola, a visitor from Los Angeles who had an extra half hour, so she ran down to the pier for a hopeful peek of the Steller sea lion.
“I have heard everywhere about this big giant sea lion, and I like to look at things, so just thought I’d check it out.”
Chonkers probably came from up north, off the coast of Washington or Oregon, and is estimated to weigh between 680 and 907 kilograms, according to Laura Gill, public programs manager at The Marine Mammal Centre in nearby Sausalito.
Chonkers has been one of the few Steller sea lions to venture to the pier, which is protected from predators and crashing waves while providing a fish-filled buffet.
“There’s plenty of food in San Francisco Bay for them, so the fish, the rockfish, the anchovies, the herring, there’s a lot of easy prey for them,” she said.
The giant sea lion, which was first spotted on the pier last month, had brought the community together, said San Francisco resident Danielle Ovadia. “He’s so precious, and he’s quite literally humongous,” she said.
AP, Reuters
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