An aerial photo taken on Wednesday shows the humpback whale that was rescued on a private barge, after it came ashore on a sandbank off the German coast in late March.
FRANKFURT: A humpback whale that was struggling for survival after beaching near the German coast on Saturday was released into the North Sea off Denmark, after being transferred on a barge in a final rescue operation.Karin Walter Mummert, one of the wealthy businessmen who financed the rescue, said that the whale, which is called “Timmy” in Germany – where its plight captivated hearts and caused a media sensation – got out of the boat, blew air through the blowhole and swam. She is now swimming on her own and, at least for now, in the right direction.Walter Mummert said that the whale “suffers some minor injuries, but they are superficial.”
The entrepreneur, who made her fortune in horse racing, added: “You must now swim up the Norwegian coast towards the North Pole.”The whale was first seen stuck on a sandbank on March 23 near the city of Lübeck, on the Baltic Sea coast in Germany, before it freed itself and then got stuck again several times. Various attempts to save her failed, and the authorities announced her surrender, prompting Walter Mommert and another wealthy businessman to intervene.
They came up with what many considered a far-fetched plan: lure the whale into a water-filled space on a special barge and tow it back to its natural habitat.Some experts criticized the privately funded rescue plan, saying it would only increase the animal’s suffering. But the plan appears to have worked despite the odds, as the whale departed the boat from Wismar Bay on the Baltic Sea coast at around 8.45 a.m., organizers said.How was Timmy converted? To get the whale to the boat, rescuers tied it with straps and lifted it down a channel specially dug in the sand to allow it to reach the ship.
Rescuers then swam alongside her as she accelerated and entered the boat, drawing cheers from the crowd watching from shore.The idea for the barge came after the entrepreneurs’ initial attempt to rescue the whale using pillows and inflatable rafts failed. Officials gave the green light for the rescue operation after veterinarians said the whale was fit to be transported.The saga has attracted relentless coverage from TV channels, online outlets and social media influencers – but it has also led to angry spats and conspiracy theories about how the whale got off track in the first place.
