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Robert Marc Lehmann (43) calmed the giant“He knew I was there” – whale whisperer from Timmendorfer Strand explains the rescue
The humpback whale on a sandbank in front of Timmendorfer Strand. Robert Marc Lehmann (43) calms the animal while excavators dig a channel for the mammal.
IMAGO/Susanne Hübner
With combined forces!
Emergency services have been trying for days to free a humpback whale from a sandbank off Timmendorfer Strand. Heavy equipment is used – a huge stress factor for the weakened marine mammal. Close by his side: whale whisperer Robert Marc Lehmann (43).
Rescue with heavy equipment
For four days, a humpback whale lay in the shallow water off Timmendorfer Strand, aground on a sandbank. Now he is free for now. The marine mammal owes this to the emergency services on site, one in particular: Robert Marc Lehmann (43). The marine biologist had the task of staying with the whale during the rescue with heavy equipment on Thursday (March 26), calming it and assessing its mood: “You have to imagine, just because it’s a whale, it’s no different than a dog or a horse”said the marine biologist after the mission. He explains: “It’s super important to talk to a whale like that, to touch it.” The whale reacts to the attempts to calm him down: “He knew I was there.”
Reading tip: Baltic Sea humpback whale has freed itself from sandbank – how the rescue operation is now continuing
The humpback whale is scared
Lehmann swims around the whale, touches it, strokes it. Meanwhile, two excavators are digging a channel into the sandbank: “You can tell he's scared. He's insecure, he feels bad. And he's really really shit.”said the marine biologist. He talks to him and shows him that they have come to help. You can’t just start digging and say “Get up.” The 43-year-old cannot yet translate what sounds the whale makes: “You’ll have to ask me that again in 20 years with AI,” but he certainly understands the discomfort in its calls.
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Video tip: Freeing the humpback whale
Whale Whisperer Lehmann
Marc Robert Lehmann is an environmentalist, researcher and photographer. He loves nature and the sea: “I'm trying to pull myself together because I actually want to stand here and have tears rolling down my eyes,” he admits when the whale is still lying on the sandbank. He thought carefully about coming to Timmendorfer Strand and struggled with himself for days. But when he heard that he might be able to help, he was there. According to his own statements, Lehmann has assisted in many strandings of marine mammals – including in Australia and New Zealand. The whale whisperer’s personal rescue record: “Twelve whales that are still alive”.
Reading tip: Marine biologist demands: Leave him alone!
Lehmann shouldn't include this humpback whale yet, as he warned on Friday morning (March 27th), after the whale managed to escape from the sandbank: “This is not salvation, this is just a small step in the right direction.” The whale will only be saved if it can safely return to the North Sea and from there to its home, the Atlantic.
Sources used: own RTL research
