Overview
- Rescuers released the weakened whale about 70 kilometers off Skagen on Saturday after more than a month stuck in the Baltic’s shallow, low‑salinity waters.
- Germany’s Oceanographic Museum said Tuesday the animal is most likely dead because it lacked the strength to keep swimming in deep water and there is no verified update on its condition.
- Organizers said they attached a GPS tag, yet scientists report no confirmed transmissions and have asked the volunteer team to share the raw tracker data.
- The transport by flooded barge followed weeks of failed efforts using pontoons, excavators and a dredged channel, which whale experts and Greenpeace warned would add stress to a gravely ill animal.
- Two wealthy donors, Walter Gunz and Karin Walter-Mommert, paid for the operation, reported at about £1.3 million, raising new questions about oversight, ethics and transparency in high-profile wildlife rescues.