The emergency services are no longer looking for the whale in the dark.Image: www.imago-images.de
March 30, 2026, 8:59 p.mMarch 31, 2026, 07:58
The buck whale off the Baltic Sea coast has first dived. He had not yet been seen again, a spokesman for the water police said in the morning. A boat is now being prepared so that the emergency services can search for the animal in daylight and, if necessary, see whether it has made the journey or has settled again.
A spokesman for the Environment Ministry of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also said in the morning that there was nothing new: The whale was seen late on Monday evening at the port of Wismar, but then later moved seaward towards the pier.
The whale still has a long way to go
“The whale is fighting – but it is battered,” says Backhaus. Now he has to help himself. The scientific director of the German Oceanographic Museum, Burkard Baschek, said: “We exchanged ideas with international experts who advised us to activate the whale with noise. We waited for the right situation to happen.” Sandra Schöttner from the environmental organization Greenpeace described the campaign as a “good first step on the way”, even if the whale’s journey is still long.
Marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann tried to help the stranded whale on March 26, 2026.Image: keystone
Wal seemed more agile than before
The humpback whale had been lying in shallow water in the bay off Wismar since at least Saturday and was shielded from onlookers.
On Monday afternoon, scientists, environmentalists and Environment Minister Backhaus had already tried to contact the animal. The whale reacted to the approach of the boat, a ministry spokesman told the German Press Agency. The animal also appeared more agile than before.
After the action in the afternoon, the ministry announced, among other things: “Since we can expect the water level to continue to rise in the next few hours, the opportunity for the whale to leave its lying position on its own initiative will improve.”
The humpback whale was initially stranded on a sandbank in Schleswig-Holstein off Timmendorfer Strand on the night of March 23rd. On Friday night, the whale managed to leave the shallow water after helpers dug a channel. On Saturday he was spotted in shallow water off Wismar.
On the Baltic Sea coast since the beginning of March
The humpback whale was initially stranded on a sandbank in Schleswig-Holstein off Timmendorfer Strand on the night of March 23rd. On Friday night, the animal managed to leave the shallow water after helpers dug a channel. On Saturday he was spotted in shallow water off Wismar.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the whale had been traveling in the coastal area of the Baltic Sea since March 3rd. According to the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd, the animal was caught in a gillnet. (sda/dpa)