Whale found: Dead whale discovered in the Greifswalder Bodden

A whale tragedy has unfolded once again off the coast of the Baltic Sea. "At 08:16, the water protection police reported a stranded, decomposed whale in the Greifswalder Bodden," Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) announced. Within hours, an expert from the German Marine Museum in Stralsund set out in a boat to confirm the death of the approximately seven-meter-long gray whale, which was floating near the river mouth with its back in the water.

The last time a gray whale stranded in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern was in the spring, near the island of Poel. The whale, affectionately named "Timmy" by many, was transported to the North Sea in a controversial and extensive operation, only to be washed ashore dead off the Danish island of Anholt a few days later. A state ship has begun towing the deceased whale to Stralsund using ropes, with the destination being the island of Dänholm, home to the Nautineum, a branch of the German Marine Museum.

Officials plan to arrive at the island later in the evening, according to a museum spokesperson. Plans call for scientists to examine the marine mammal on Friday. Gray whales are rare in the Baltic Sea, which is not part of their natural habitat. The relatively low-salinity water of the Baltic Sea puts stress on them. Why are they swimming into this life-threatening environment?

Minister Backhaus explained, "There are indications that the gray whale population in the Atlantic has been recovering well in recent years. However, more animals apparently also mean more strays that swim into the Baltic Sea." "Nevertheless, it saddens me that we must now witness the death of a gray whale in the Baltic Sea for the second time in a single year, this time within German territorial waters," Backhaus added.

From the animal's autopsy, he hopes to gain insights into "what causes such non-native animals to die in our waters." He expressed a desire to learn more about this species to potentially mitigate such events in the future. Several whale sightings have occurred along the coast in recent weeks, first off Kiel, then further east in the harbor basin of Wismar, before the Baltic Sea resort of Wustrow, and most recently on Saturday near the Polish seaside town of Miedzyzdroje.

Experts from WWF Poland examined the state of the marine mammal, which swam free and was not entangled in fishing nets. A Polish coast guard boat escorted the whale on its eastward journey towards the coastal town of Wiselka. "Whether the whale now seen in the Greifswalder Bodden is the same individual remains unclear," Stanislaw Poplochodzki, a spokesperson for WWF Poland, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

More could be said if the marine mammal came out of the water and its back could be examined, the WWF spokesperson noted, looking ahead to the planned autopsy on Friday. Photos of the sightings show the whale's back.