{"id":345140,"date":"2026-03-24T10:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T10:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/345140\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T10:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T10:09:07","slug":"concerns-grow-for-stranded-whale-still-stuck-on-german-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/345140\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerns grow for stranded whale still stuck on German coast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A massive whale remains stuck in shallow water just off Germany&#8217;s <a class=\"internal-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/baltic-sea\/t-38447622\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Baltic Sea<\/a> coast, with rescue efforts failing so far, authorities said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The roughly 10-meter (32-foot)\u00a0<a class=\"internal-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/marine-life\/t-36732661\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">marine<\/a> mammal was unable to free itself during the high tide overnight, a police spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>It was first spotted early on Monday near Niendorf in the northern state of <a class=\"internal-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/schleswig-holstein\/t-18967619\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Schleswig-Holstein<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Early signs indicate that it may be a humpback whale \u2014\u00a0one of the largest animals on earth with distinct pectoral\u00a0fins, or flippers.<\/p>\n<p><img data-format=\"MASTER_LANDSCAPE\" data-id=\"76482894\" data-url=\"https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76482894_${formatId}.jpg\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" alt=\"Police officer behind police tape looks in the direction of stranded whale in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany\" style=\"padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; max-height: 0;\"\/>A marine conservation group says the mammal is likely a young male on migration (March 23, 2026)Image: Ulrich Perrey\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/p>\n<p>Large-scale rescue efforts continue<\/p>\n<p>Rescue workers have been trying to free it from a sandbank since midday on Monday, with the help of boats to generate waves, drone technology, as well as support from volunteers and experts.<\/p>\n<p>Although their mission has not been successful yet, they managed to partially free it from netting that had become wrapped around its body.<\/p>\n<p>Public broadcaster NDR\u00a0reported earlier that the whale could be heard periodically making &#8220;deep, muffled&#8221;\u00a0noises and that it appeared weak.<\/p>\n<p>Police used barriers on land to ensure it is not\u00a0disturbed by onlookers.<\/p>\n<p><img data-format=\"MASTER_LANDSCAPE\" data-id=\"76482964\" data-url=\"https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76482964_${formatId}.jpg\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" alt=\"Dozens of onlookers stand on rocky shore to observe stranded whale off the Baltic coast\" style=\"padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; max-height: 0;\"\/>It was first spotted early on Monday at Timmendorfer Strand near Niendorf (March 23, 2026)Image: Ulrich Perrey\/dpa\/picture alliance<\/p>\n<p>It is still <a class=\"internal-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/why-do-whales-and-dolphins-strand\/a-55203547\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">unclear why the whale<\/a> ended up in the Baltic bay&#8217;s shallow water. Stephanie Gross from the Hanover-based Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, said it may have been sick, injured, exhausted, or simply unlucky.<\/p>\n<p>Marine conservation group Sea Shepherd says the mammal is likely a young male on migration and believes it could be the same whale repeatedly sighted in the area earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Edited by: Wesley Dockery<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A massive whale remains stuck in shallow water just off Germany&#8217;s Baltic Sea coast, with rescue efforts failing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-345140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}