Germany: Stranded whale 'Timmy' being transported towards ocean in special barge
Key takeaways
- Rescue teams are celebrating what they hope is a major win weeks into efforts to assist a stranded humpback whale.
- The animal is thought to have lost its way in early March, straying into the Baltic Sea.
- It has been stuck in various locations for more than a month, and has spent the last few weeks in a small bay area off the island of Poel.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Rescue teams are celebrating what they hope is a major win weeks into efforts to assist a stranded humpback whale. "Timmy" has been coaxed onto a special barge that will help steer him back towards the Atlantic.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Cxbx After several hours, crews were able to encourage the whale to swim a short distance into position so that they could usher it into the barge early on Tuesday afternoon Image: Philip Dulian/dpa/picture alliance Advertisement Rescuers in northern Germany on Tuesday coaxed the stranded humback whale that's come to be known as "Timmy" towards a specially converted freight barge that they want to use to guide the marine mammal back towards its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.
The animal is thought to have lost its way in early March, straying into the Baltic Sea.