A channel is supposed to help the whale back to freedom.Image: www.imago-images.de
March 26, 2026, 12:18 p.mMarch 26, 2026, 12:18 p.m
Experts are trying again to free the humpback whale stuck on the German Baltic Sea coast. Two excavators started digging a channel some distance away from the animal, which was stuck on a sandbank.
An excavator helps dig out the gutter.Image: www.imago-images.de
According to reporters from the German Press Agency (dpa), a third excavator is still available on site to provide support on the beach. The aim is to slowly work your way up to the 12 to 15 meter tall marine mammal so that it can get used to the noises, said the mayor of the town of Timmendorfer Strand (Schleswig-Holstein), Sven Partheil-Böhnke.
Wind affects workers
The work requires maximum concentration. The mayor explained that you had to work your way to within a centimeter of the animal’s head. This is not entirely safe for the humpback whale either.
The whale stranded on a sandbank.Image: DPA
Excavator driver Tim Löhndorf from the company Ökological Water Service Wandhoff told the dpa on Wednesday that a total of two excavators would be used to dig a 50-meter-long, six-meter-wide and 1.20-meter-deep channel in front of the whale’s head. Wind and currents are particularly challenging during the rescue operation.
This is the situation with the humpback whale
Before the rescue attempt began, biologist Robert Marc Lehmann approached the stuck animal. This reacted with violent movements and loud snorting. The marine mammal is stuck in shallow water – so shallow you can stand there.
The biologist Robert Marc Lehmann examined the whale again before the new rescue attempt.Image: DPA
The diver’s assessment showed that the animal looked relatively good, said Stephanie Gross from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW). The humpback whale reacts to approach. Although his head is in shallow water, he can still lift it.
Stranded since Monday
The humpback whale was discovered on the sandbank Monday morning. On Tuesday, a rescue attempt with a small suction excavator failed. “Unfortunately it turned out that the sand was too solid,” explained Gross. Other attempts had previously failed. Although it was possible to turn the whale towards the deeper channel, it could not get free.
Attempts to make waves with police boats so that the whale could swim free also had no effect. In order not to further stress the whale, the experiments were stopped. The hope that the animal would be able to swim free with the flooding on Tuesday night was also not fulfilled.
After the liberation, further dangers lurk
The whale would not have made it completely if it had been successfully freed. Since the Baltic Sea is not its natural habitat, it has to return to the North Sea and then further into the Atlantic. According to experts, there is a risk that the whale will get stuck again or not be able to find its way out of the Baltic Sea.
The Baltic Sea represents a bottleneck, said Jan Herrmann, veterinarian and whale expert from Wilhelmshaven. “You have to find the exit again, and it’s not entirely certain that this is how humpback whales navigate.” (sda/dpa)