Difficult rescue operation Low water level causes problems for whale rescuers
A sharp drop in the water level is causing problems for the helpers of the stranded humpback whale in the bay of the small Baltic Sea island of Poel.
22.04.2026, 02:56
22.04.2026, 08:58
SDA
After spending the whole day sucking silt out from under the animal, which weighs several tons, and blowing it away, it lay deeper in the water in the evening as hoped. This alleviates its distress, as the whale could be crushed by its own weight in water that is too shallow.
At dusk, helpers fed the approximately twelve-metre-long marine mammal with mackerel. This was primarily intended as an animation, as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) had previously said. The authorities will be informed of all steps taken by the private rescue initiative and will ultimately decide what can be done and what the animal should not be expected to do.
Low water remains a problem
The low tide will make the work of the rescuers even more difficult. The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency is again predicting a water level of up to 30 centimetres below normal on Wednesday. As the whale is now lying in an artificially blown free cavity, it will be all the more difficult for it to move away.
In order to prevent the whale from moving any further into the extensive shallow water area at the exit of the bay, bags filled with sand should be placed in the water at its back. But until nightfall, none of this could be seen on live streams. Backhaus explained the idea behind the bags was to stop the whale from moving any further away from the deep water. This had happened the night before, as the minister explained. The whale had moved around 80 meters "in reverse" under the pressure of the wind and waves.
Transmitter attached to the animal
After lying in one place for three weeks, the whale suddenly swam off on Monday morning when the water level rose. Boats had tried to drive it towards the Baltic Sea. After two hours, however, the presumably exhausted animal stopped at the junction of the bay called Kirchsee and Wismar Bay, where the water is much deeper and leads towards the Baltic Sea. According to Backhaus, a transmitter has since been attached to the animal - so if it should free itself and swim away, its path could be tracked.
It remains to be seen whether this will happen. Backhaus said the whale was short of breath and in a critical condition, but still vital and had a chance. Whale researcher Fabian Ritter again pleaded for the animal to be left alone so as not to expose it to further stress.
First sightings around seven weeks ago
The first sightings of the humpback whale were at the beginning of March. On March 3, it surfaced in the port of Wismar. In the days that followed, it was seen off the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein and the coast of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. According to experts, the animal had repeatedly become entangled in nets. Emergency services and marine conservationists from the Sea Shepherd organization freed it from some of the material.
On March 23, the whale beached for the first time on a sandbank off Timmendorfer Strand in the Bay of Lübeck. Extensive rescue attempts were launched and the animal finally swam off on its own. A few days later, it stranded on a sandbank in the Bay of Wismar. As the water level rose, the whale swam on for a short time during the night, shortly afterwards it came to rest in Wismar Bay - and swam on again. Since March 31, it has been stuck again, this time in Kirchsee Bay. On Monday, the fifth stranding followed at the exit of the bay.
