Overview
- Lawyers for the shipowner of the tug Robin Hood issued a statement Saturday rejecting claims of mishandling and said the whale was freed on a second attempt about 70 kilometers off Skagen after first trying on May 1.
- The private initiative says a GPS tag on the humpback is sending signals but refuses to share location data for safety reasons, while Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern’s environment minister says the data were promised and is weighing legal steps to obtain them.
- Financiers and a veterinarian from the initiative accuse the crew of rough handling, an early release, and blocking medical checks, and the company counters that all steps followed an agreed plan with the initiative and a state ministry.
- The legal letter says any scratches came from the whale hitting the sides of the water‑filled barge in heavy seas, and it describes using hoses to loop and guide the animal out after it failed to swim free when a net was opened.
- Scientists warned the weakened whale’s long‑term survival odds were low, and the case has spurred political attacks on the state government as well as a pledge from environment ministers to draft protocols for future strandings by the fall.