Overview
- Officials, who on Wednesday ended active efforts, now expect the humpback to die in the inlet near Wismar after it re-stranded off the island of Poel.
- The state set a 500-meter exclusion zone to keep boats and onlookers away so the animal has quiet.
- Scientists reported very irregular breathing and almost no response when they approached the 12–15 meter whale.
- Authorities ruled out euthanasia because sedation could endanger the whale and rescuers, and they plan to move the body ashore for examination if it dies.
- The case followed days of efforts with boats and even an excavator, but the Baltic’s low-salt water and the long, narrow route back to the North Sea made success unlikely.