German authorities are contemplating another rescue attempt using a catamaran for a humpback whale that has made headlines in recent weeks after becoming stranded on several occasions in the Baltic Sea.
The 12.35-metre animal has been stranded four times off Germany’s Baltic coast since the beginning of March, and has so far managed to swim free on three occasions.
It most recently got stuck off Poel Island in the Bay of Wismar on Tuesday. On Wednesday, all rescue attempts for the struggling whale were called off, as experts said they expected the animal to die in the bay.
But days later, authorities are assessing whether the whale could be lifted off the seabed by a catamaran and taken to deeper waters.
They are awaiting a health assessment, likely to be available on Tuesday, to determine whether the animal has a chance of survival, said Till Backhaus, environment minister in the coastal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The whale is “really in a very poor condition,” Backhaus told the News5 platform on Sunday after another visit to the marine mammal.
If the whale is deemed well enough, 80-centimetre to 1-metre-wide straps would be threaded under its body, he said. It would then be lifted very carefully and placed on a net, “so that it can be transported alive.”
The humpback whale is still lying on a sandbar off the coast of Poel Island this afternoon. Marcus Golejewski/dpa
