Overview
- The juvenile humpback, released Saturday about 70 kilometers off Skagen, Denmark, swam away under its own power according to rescue organizers.
- A private team moved the whale by guiding it through a dredged channel into a water‑filled barge using straps, then towed the vessel from the Baltic toward deeper water.
- German authorities had halted official efforts in early April before approving the privately funded plan from two entrepreneurs following intense public pressure.
- Marine scientists and groups including the International Whaling Commission questioned the move, citing the whale’s lethargy, skin lesions from low‑salinity water, and possible net fragments that could impede feeding.
- Organizers said a GPS tag was reportedly attached before release, and early observations suggested a northerly course toward the Atlantic, though monitoring will determine if the whale can dive and forage on its own.