A special barge carrying a humpback whale that was stranded in Germany had entered Danish waters by Wednesday afternoon and is expected to reach the North Sea in two days, local officials said.<\/p>\n
The whale, dubbed “Timmy” by German media, was coaxed into the vessel in a last-ditch rescue attempt on Tuesday after a weeks-long struggle for survival on the Baltic Sea coast.<\/p>\n
The ship Fortuna B, which is towing the barge, was located between the islands of Langeland and Lolland in southeastern Denmark at around 1400 GMT, according to the VesselFinder website.<\/p>\n
“If everything goes well, he’ll be in the North Sea in two days. The very worst is already behind him now,” Till Backhaus, environment minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, told the Bild daily.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters on the island of Poel, where the whale was most recently stranded, Backhaus said the animal was “doing well” and had made sounds during the night.<\/p>\n
Backhaus thanked rescuers for their “wonderful” effort in “an exceptional situation that is hardly comparable anywhere in the world in this form”.<\/p>\n
The whale had been struggling for more than a month around the German coast, getting stuck on sandbanks and then managing to free itself again several times.<\/p>\n
At the start of April, officials gave up on trying to rescue the animal, saying they believed it could not be saved.<\/p>\n
But this triggered an outcry and authorities were persuaded to approve a privately financed rescue plan proposed by two wealthy entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
The barge idea was hatched after their initial attempt to save the whale with inflatable cushions and pontoons was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
The rescue effort was seen as a long shot and criticised by experts who said it would only cause the animal more distress.<\/p>\n
The whale’s ordeal has sparked a media frenzy — with non-stop coverage from TV channels, online outlets and social media influencers — but has also led to angry spats and conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n
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