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Tracker sends vital signsBaltic Sea whale Timmy: signs of life after being released into the wild
Baltic Sea humpback whale Timmy says hello one last time before diving into freedom after being released. This photo is from Saturday.
news5 / sebastian peters, Sebastian Peters/NEWS5/dpa, Sebastian Peters
Where's Timmy?
The Baltic Sea humpback whale is free, but the trembling around him continues. So far, the GPS tracker on the animal does not provide any location data. Nevertheless, according to a report, there are positive signals. Accordingly, vital signs were received.
Timmy has been free since Saturday morning
The humpback whale, which has been stranded several times, has been back in the open sea since Saturday morning. At around 9 a.m., the barge in which Timmy was taken by a private rescue initiative towards the North Sea was said to be empty. At this time the convoy was about 70 kilometers from Skagen in the Skagerrak, the strait between Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
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Whale tracker doesn't send location, but sends signs of life
After the release, the crucial question remains unanswered: Where is whale Timmy now? Is he taking the right path? The tracker attached to the animal does not yet provide any location data.
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Nevertheless, there appears to be reason for hope. According to a report in Bild, which has information from the private rescue initiative, signals were received via the tracking transmitter. These are vital signs. According to the report, Timmy is doing well, but his exact route remains unclear.
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Baltic Sea humpback whale remains a concern
Experts had previously viewed the rescue operation critically. The Baltic Sea humpback whale was considered to be severely weakened, had been in shallow water areas for weeks and was most recently stranded off the island of Poel. According to marine biologist Lisa Klemens from the Stralsund Marine Museum, who commented in the Schleswig-Holstein Magazine, no whale has ever survived multiple strandings. Because it is currently not clear where the animal is and what it is doing, from their point of view one cannot yet speak of a successful rescue.
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Without reliable location data, it is difficult to assess whether Timmy the whale will swim, dive and find food in a stable manner after its release. For the rescuers, the signals received are still an important first sign. The great hope remains: the Baltic Sea humpback whale will make it back to deeper waters.
Sources used: Picture, Schleswig-Holstein Magazine
