The fate of a humpback whale stuck in shallow bays off Germany\u2019s Baltic coast hangs in the balance after it became stranded for a third time.<\/p>\n
The roughly 10-metre-long (33ft) mammal appeared weakened and sick on Sunday and was struggling to find a route back to the Atlantic when it ran into fresh difficulty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prognosis as a whole doesn\u2019t look good,\u201d Burkard Baschek, a marine scientist, told reporters on Sunday after conducting an assessment at the scene.<\/p>\n
Scientists say the whale\u2019s breathing frequency has reduced and that it is no longer exhibiting reactions to nearby vessels.<\/p>\n
Till Backhaus, the environment minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, told a news conference in the coastal town of Wismar earlier in the day, before the latest stranding, that a 500-metre restricted area had been established around the animal to give it a chance to rest and hopefully free itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would be able to do so if he regains his strength, and that is why we decided to leave him alone, allowing him to actually set off and then successfully leave this area,\u201d Backhaus said. \u201cBut we also have to assume that he is weakened. And he is also sick.\u201d It is thought a fishing net may have injured the whale.<\/p>\n
Robert Marc Lehmann, a marine biologist, attempting to help the whale on Thursday. Photograph: Selim Sudheimer\/EPA<\/p>\n
Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic and experts suspect that the young whale, thought to be male, followed a shoal of fish or became disoriented by the noise of a submarine. Baltic waters lack the salt concentration and type of nutrition that humpbacks need to survive in the long term.<\/p>\n
The whale was first spotted in the Baltic on 3 March and reported stranded on a sandbank last week. Guests of a hotel in Niendorf heard its deep moans<\/a> and alerted police.<\/p>\n Authorities used an excavator to deepen a channel and boats to create waves to help free the mammal, which has been nicknamed Timmy, after Timmendorfer Strand beach in Wismar Bay. News alerts about the drama have captivated the German public.<\/p>\n People gather on a bridge at Wismar Bay on Sunday where the whale was stuck in shallow waters. Photograph: Annegret Hilse\/Reuters<\/p>\n