A young humpback whale, nicknamed Timmy by the media, remains stranded in the Baltic Sea off the northern coast of Germany. The whale was first seen on March 3, 2026 as rescuers struggled to save him from the shallow waters far from where he should have been – in the Atlantic.
It is not known why the whale ended up in the Baltic Sea. Scientists have opined the whale may have lost his way when swimming after a shoal of herring during migration. Unfortunately, Timmy is hundreds of miles away from the North Sea and onwards towards the Atlantic Ocean. It is doubtful he even could make his way back on such a strenuous journey in his current condition.
Generous donations have been pouring in from around the world to help Timmy, and on Thursday an elaborate operation had been developed hoping to free the now sick and weak whale.
Previous attempts to free Timmy have not been successful. Efforts to refloat him with the aide of police boats, inflatable boats and excavators had only temporarily freed him. The whale that measures 39 to 49 feet long had been unable to find its way back to the North Sea and thus became stranded again; all the time becoming weaker and sicker.
Due to his popularity and too many curious onlookers approaching too closely and stressing the whale, police built a 1,640 foot protection zone.
This afternoon, one more brave effort was deployed to rescue the whale, which will be using air cushions to lift Timmy onto a tarp to be secured to two pontoons and attached to a tugboat. The whale will be transported back to the North Sea and possibly even to the Atlantic.
The rescue operation is being called Operation Cushion.
Some environmental organizations have pulled their support stating the whale is too weak and too sick to survive. Still other people don’t want to give up.
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Updates to follow.
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