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Tier lies in the Wismar BaySurvival “unlikely”! Risky catamaran rescue of whale Timmy off the table
The whale has been lying motionless off the island of Poel in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for days.
IMAGO/Marc Stinger
A whale has been lying in the Wismar Bay for almost a week. His chances of survival are decreasing. A rescue operation with special equipment is being discussed. But experts advise against this approach.
The whale lying off the Baltic Sea coast would probably not survive an attempt to rescue it using heavy equipment. “There is currently no scientist or veterinarian who advises us to take such an approach, as trying to save the animal alive would subject the animal to severe torture,” explained Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister Till Backhaus. On Sunday, Backhaus was still considering transporting the whale alive using a catamaran or other device.
“According to all the experts we asked, it is unlikely that it would survive such an attempt,” the minister now explained. He promised not to give up on the whale. “Until the last breath,” said the SPD minister. “We left no stone unturned to help the animal and carried out investigations around and on the whale.” For Tuesday he expects a “current expertise after the assessment from a biological and veterinary perspective”.
On Monday, the whale's situation was largely unchanged: It's still breathing, but it's not feeling well. The animal has now been lying in the same place for almost a week. Now the water quality should be checked to determine “whether the dying animal poses a risk to the environment or public health.”
Water samples had already been taken the day before to measure the salinity of the water. “I will take another look at the situation on site in the afternoon,” continued Backhaus.
According to authorities, the humpback whale, which is around 12 to 15 meters long, wandered through the Baltic Sea for around four weeks. The marine mammal cannot survive there, particularly because of the lower salt content in the water of the Baltic Sea.
Two weeks ago, the animal was stranded on a sandbank off the Schleswig-Holstein coast. After it was freed there with excavators, it has been stuck in the Bay of Wismar off Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since Saturday. The authorities had already declared on Thursday that there was no longer any hope for the whale and that it would probably die off the island of Poel.
Sources used: chr/AFP
