A barge carrying ‘Timmy’, the humpback whale stranded in Germany since early March, is expected to reach the open ocean by Friday.
The tugboat pulling the water-filled barge entered Danish waters Wednesday afternoon.
It was located between the Danish islands of Samso and Sjaelland at 2 a.m. German time (0000 GMT) on Thursday, according to the Vessel Finder tracking website.
The tugboat and barge containing the humpback whale has crossed into Danish watersImage: Philip Dulian/dpa/picture alliance
Environment minister for the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Till Backhaus, said that if everything went well, the whale would be in the North Sea by Friday.
“The very worst is already behind him now,” Backhaus told Germany’s Bild newspaper on Wednesday.
Backhaus said the animal was “doing well” and had made sounds during the night.
Rescuers managed to get Timmy onto the barge, has a water-filled hold and is usually used to carry other boatsImage: Jens Schwarck/Rettungsinitiative/dpa/picture alliance
Stranded whale Timmy was coaxed onto barge in complex rescue
The whale, nicknamed ‘Timmy’ by Germany media, was towed from the shallows of the island of German island of Poel to the barge through a specially dredged channel on Tuesday.
Rescuers then pulled the whale onto the specially converted freight barge using straps.
Rescuers guided Timmy from shallow waters through a specially dug channel Image: Jens Büttner/dpa/picture alliance
“I’m truly relieved,” Backhaus on Poel.
“I was even on the verge of jumping into the water to help him over the last few meters.”
Rescuers pull Timmy the humpback (not visible) into the barge using strapsImage: Schwarck/NonstopNews/REUTERS
The young humpback was first spotted swimming near Germany’s Baltic Coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.
Timmy’s health deteriorated as the juvenile whale, thought to be between four and six years old, became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters.
The idea to coax the whale onto a barge and tow it to the North Sea was hatched after their initial attempt to save the whale with inflatable cushions and pontoons was unsuccessful.
Whale rescue attempt sparks heated debate
Some scientists warned that this latest attempt may be too much for the animal.
Some scientists have criticized this latest rescue attempt saying it will cause stress to the already sick whaleImage: Jens Schwarck/Rettungsinitiative/dpa/picture alliance
Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, told the Associated Press earlier this month that efforts to save Timmy have caused the animal severe stress.
“I believe the whale will die very soon now,” he said. “And I would also like to raise the question: What is actually so bad about that? Animals live, animals die. This animal is really, really very, very, very sick.”
Whale specialists say Timmy the humpback’s chance of survival are smallImage: Daniel Müller/Greenpeace Germany/dpa/picture alliance
The International Whaling Commission called the rescue “inadvisable.”
It said the whale “appeared to be severely compromised” and “unlikely to survive.”
The rescue initiative is being privately financed by two German multimillionaires.
Edited by: Zac Crellin