Walfund: Toter Buckelwal im Greifswalder Bodden

A sad story of a stranded grey whale has once again unfolded off the Baltic Sea coast. Environmental Minister Till Backhaus informed that at around 08:16 AM, the Water Protection Police reported a lifeless whale in the Greifswald Bay. Shortly after, a specialist from the German Marine Museum in Stralsund set out in a boat and confirmed the death of an approximately seven-meter-long grey whale, who was swimming on the water near the Rügenstrait.

The last such event happened in spring when a grey whale stranded near the island of Poel near Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The whale, locally named "Timmy," was transported to the North Sea in a controversial operation, but died a few days later near the Danish island of Anholt. A state vessel has begun to tow the dead whale towards Stralsund on buoys.

The museum spokesperson said the transport should arrive in the city's harbor at the end of the day. On Friday, it is planned that scientists will examine the marine mammal. Grey whales are rarely found in the Baltic Sea, which is not their natural habitat. The relatively low-saline water of the Baltic Sea burdens them. However, Backhaus noted that there are indications that the grey whale population in the Atlantic has been recovering in recent years.

More animals mean, however, that more accidental travelers end up in the Baltic Sea. Backhaus expressed regret that this is already the second such event within a year, this time in the territorial waters of Germany. He hopes to learn more about this species to prevent such incidents in the future. Several whale sightings have been reported in recent weeks, first off Kiel, then further east in the harbor basin of Wismar, in the bathing resort of Wustrow, and last Saturday near the Polish resort of Miedzyzdroje.

Experts from the WWF Poland checked the condition of the marine mammal, which was swimming freely and had not become entangled in fishing nets. The Polish coast guard boat escorted the whale on its way east towards the coastal town of Wiselka. "Whether the whale now appearing in the Greifswald Bay is the same individual, we do not know," said Stanislaw Poplochodzki, a WWF Poland spokesperson, to the German Press Agency.

Whether all the sightings could be the same whale remains unclear. They might be able to say more if the marine mammal came to the surface and they could see its back, said the museum spokesperson referring to the planned autopsy on Friday. Photos from the sightings show the whale's back.