US EditionRescuers Abandon Hope for Whale Stranded Off German Island
Officials said the weakened whale had been stranded four times and was too weak to survive further rescue attempts.
- German officials announced on Wednesday that rescue efforts for the young humpback whale "Timmy" will stop after experts concluded the animal "no longer has strength" to survive.
- After first beaching itself at Timmendorf Beach on March 23, Timmy stranded on a sandbank off Schleswig-Holstein and was freed using excavators, later becoming stuck again in Wismar Bay.
- Rescue expert Burkard Baschek noted the whale's "reaction to our presence was virtually zero" while lying in shallow waters off the island of Poel, suffering from severe skin problems and fishing net remnants.
- Officials have established a restricted zone in the Baltic Sea to allow the creature to "die in peace," determining that further movement would amount to animal cruelty given slim survival chances.
- Till Backhaus, environment minister for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, said "We have explored all ideas," noting the 12-to-15-meter whale chose this path, citing "respect for nature" in the decision to let it go.
54 Articles
54 Articles
A whale is in its final stages, the coast is anxious – and a minister gets into the crossfire. Since it is clear that Timmy cannot be saved, the emotions are boiling up.
Attempts to free the humpback whale off the island of Poel were stopped, and the police filed charges for animal torture and failure to provide assistance.
There is hardly any hope for the humpback whale in the Wismar bay. The animal lies in a shallow bay off the island of Poel. Experts assume that the whale dies there.
There is a moment in the stories that concern animals, in which the illusion of happy ending leaves room for a harsher reality: that of human limits in front of nature. It is the point where the story of "Timmy" is found today, the humpback finite in the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Germany. After days of attempts, monitoring and interventions, the rescuers have admitted that there is nothing more to do: the whale, now exha…
The humpback whale Timmy lies still and weakened in the Wismar bay. After weeks of error and failed rescue attempts, the fight for survival seems lost. A restricted zone should protect Timmy from additional stress.
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