Does he even have a chance?Minister wants to save humpback whale with catamaran

April 5, 2026 around 18:12 Clock

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Environment Minister Till Backhaus is considering rescuing the humpback whale stranded off the island of Poel with the help of a catamaran. “That is being examined,” said the SPD politician in an interview with the News5 channel. The prerequisite for this is a health report on the whale, which is expected to be available on Tuesday, as to whether it has any chance of survival. But at the moment he is “really, really bad”.

The catamaran is available in Denmark and can accommodate the twelve-ton whale, said Backhaus. The idea: “Straps 80 centimeters to 1 meter wide are flushed under the whale, very carefully so as not to harm the whale,” said Backhaus. The animal should then be lifted very carefully and placed on a net “in order to then transport it alive”.

The 12.35 meter long, 3.20 meter wide and 1.60 meter high animal was stranded off Poel last Tuesday. All rescue attempts were stopped on Wednesday. According to experts, the animal will probably die in the bay. According to experts, it is impossible to predict how long the whale will survive.

The humpback whale had anchored four times since the beginning of March. He managed to swim again three times. He was first spotted in the harbor of Wismar, later on Timmendorfer Strand in Schleswig-Holstein and finally he was stranded off Wismar.

The salt content in the Baltic Sea, which is far too low, has a significant impact on the humpback whale. This is around a third lower than what whales are used to in the North Sea or the Atlantic, said Backhaus after his recent visit to the marine mammal. The result: The humpback whale has skin problems “that really, really negatively affect their health.” Experts had previously taken water samples directly from the whale and analyzed them.

Sources used: mpe/dpa