A humpback whale that had drawn international attention after being freed from shallow water near a Baltic Sea resort in northern Germany was stranded again on Saturday, after failing to reach open waters leading back to the Atlantic, Greenpeace said.
The whale, described as 12 to 15 meters (39 to 49 feet) long, had become stuck for several days off a sandbank near Timmendorfer Strand beach, a situation that prompted high-profile rescue efforts and widespread public fascination in Germany, with live video streams and news alerts following its progress.
Rescuers earlier in the week tried to guide the whale away from the shallows using coast guard and fire department boats to create large waves. When those efforts did not work, an excavator was brought in on Thursday to dig an escape channel intended to help the animal reach deeper water.
The plan appeared to succeed at first. Rescuers said the whale swam through the man-made channel early on Friday, but tracking became more difficult after that and it was not spotted again until the following day, when it was seen farther east near the coastal town of Wismar in the state of Mecklenburg-Pomerania.
On Saturday, Greenpeace confirmed the whale had once again become stranded, dpa reported. A spokesperson for Mecklenburg-Pomerania’s environment ministry told dpa that, “after managing to free itself from its plight, the whale was spotted again at noon today in Wismar Bay.”
It was not immediately known whether another rescue attempt would be mounted.
Officials and experts said it was not clear why the whale entered the Baltic Sea in the first place. Some experts considered the possibility that it lost its way after swimming toward a shoal of herring, while another theory focused on migration patterns, including the idea that the animal is likely male because males tend to migrate.
The marine mammal cannot survive in the Baltic Sea long-term, local media reported, citing issues such as salt concentration that is not high enough and a skin disease the whale is believed to have developed. Local reports also said the whale would struggle to find the right nutrition in the region.
To have a chance at survival, the animal would need to return to the Atlantic Ocean—described as a journey of several hundred kilometers (miles) through German and Danish waters.