Another humpback whale got lost in the Baltic Sea.Image: Facebook/Linda Frølund Hansen
June 26, 2026, 4:41 p.mJune 26, 2026, 4:41 p.m
After the drama surrounding Timmy, a new humpback whale got lost in the Baltic Sea. He also appears to be severely weakened – and is also at risk of being stranded.
Marine biologist Heiko Buch-Illing says opposite Newstimethat the animal was moving noticeably slowly. This is an indication that the whale – a private initiative calls it Hartwin – is already severely weakened. According to Buch-Illing, this makes the whale an easy target for parasites.
The population is actually doing very well, the humpback whale population is even growing. Therefore, the whales would expand their territory. However, there are fewer prey animals in the border regions, which poses a challenge. Hartwin could be affected by this problem, the expert tells “Newstime”.
Buch-Illing has little hope for the humpback whale. «There’s no chance. He’s going to die,” he says, according to Newstime. If the whale doesn’t make it to shallow water, it will likely drown in the next few weeks. “In a month at the latest, maybe a week, maybe two, the whale will be stranded.”
There will be no rescue operation from the Danish side. Whale fans are already criticizing this on social media, he writes Berlin courier. Some are already calling on authorities to lure the whale back to the North Sea. The expert’s profile was also published in Facebook groups with a call to publicly protest against his statements, the “Berliner Kurier” continues.
Buch-Illing hopes that Hartwin doesn’t end up stranded in Germany so that he doesn’t have to experience the same thing as Timmy. At the same time, according to Newstime, he assumes that Timmy and Hartwin are just the beginning. “I don’t think it’s the last humpback whale we’ll see this year.” (hkl)