Against the odds, a 40-foot humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters off the coast of northern Germany swam to the open sea on Friday morning, the culmination of extensive efforts to save it.
After four days and several failed attempts, marine rescuers hatched a last-ditch plan. They ordered an excavator, which they assembled on Thursday afternoon, to dredge the sand around the giant mammal, hoping to create a channel for it to swim out into the Baltic Sea.
It is exceptionally difficult to save a stranded whale. But by Thursday night, the signs were positive: The whale had moved partially through the newly dug channel, said Stephanie Gross, a member of the rescue effort and a veterinarian at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife in Germany.
On Friday morning, once the channel was completed, rescuers watched as the whale swam out to deeper waters, according to video footage and German news media reports.
It was not at all clear that the rescue effort would work. Experts determined that the whale, believed to be a male weighing some 12,000 kilograms (about 26,000 pounds), would have a higher chance of survival if it swam free on its own, rather than being pushed or towed. Creating a channel seemed like the most viable option.
Rescuers had hoped on Thursday that if the whale could swim free, it would find its way into deeper waters.
“We have boats that will be around to guide him in the direction of the North Sea,” Dr. Gross said on Thursday over the phone from the Niendorf beach in the Lübeck Bay Area, where the rescue took place.
Jenny Gross is a reporter for The Times covering breaking news and other topics.
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