A whale stranded off the coast of Germany was released into the Atlantic after a month of imprisonment.

Timmy the humpback whale, which has repeatedly washed ashore off the Baltic coast of Germany, was released into the North Sea after two entrepreneurs financed a barge to transport the trapped animal to freedom. This was announced on May 2 by the DPA agency on its page on the social network X (ex. Twitter).

According to the volunteer who accompanied the animal during transportation, by 10:00 Moscow time, the whale was no longer in the barge. In the morning, the ship was in the Skagerrak Strait about 70 km from Cape Skagen. According to experts, the drone footage periodically showed an animal swimming in the water, but it is not yet possible to say with absolute certainty that it was a released whale.

Marine biologist Fabian Ritter noted that the whale's ability to swim and dive normally remains questionable after such a long stay in shallow water. In addition, the animal may have problems with nutrition due to fragments of nets found in its mouth. By all indications, the whale's condition is far from satisfactory.

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The Bild newspaper reported on April 25 that German specialists had begun the crucial phase of the operation to rescue Timmy the humpback whale. According to the new plan, the whale is going to be towed towards the Atlantic in an improvised "underwater aquarium" on a special barge. Veterinarians assess the animal's condition as stable and severe, but note local improvements. Thanks to the regular application of zinc ointment to the skin of the whale, the specialists managed to almost completely stop the infections that arose due to the low salinity of the water in the Baltic Sea.

The German online publication RND reported on April 20 that Timmy had run aground and was swimming. It is noted that volunteers have prepared boats to accompany and guide the whale if it goes out into open waters.

Holger Kraus, Senior Commissioner of the Wismar Water Police, said on March 29 that the whale was likely to die. He said that he had already dealt with several whales of similar size, and none of them managed to survive.