- A humpback whale, estimated to be between 12 and 15 metres long, successfully swam free from shallow Baltic Sea waters near the German port of Wismar late on Monday.
- After initially heading towards the harbour, the whale turned towards the open sea, with no new sightings reported as of Tuesday morning.
- This successful departure followed an earlier rescue attempt last week, where an excavator was used to free the whale from an underwater sandbank at Timmendorfer Strand.
- Despite the initial rescue, the visibly exhausted whale soon found itself in difficulty again, prompting officials to leave it undisturbed in hopes it would gather strength to swim away independently.
- Experts remain hopeful but cautious, noting the whale faces a monumental journey of several hundred kilometres to navigate the North Sea and reach the Atlantic Ocean, with no practical way to escort it.
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