A humpback whale that was stranded in shallow waters has tried to make a break for it when carried towards the North Sea in a multi-million-pound rescue mission.
Nicknamed Timmy, the whale was spotted swimming near Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.
Rescuers on Tuesday pulled the whale to a flooded barge using straps and a channel previously dredged to create a passage to the vessel, with the barge now expected to reach the North Sea.
On Friday night, the vessel was still sailing towards Norway, but the whale appeared to make an early exit, as footage captured the whale trying to leave the barge.
Video shows Timmy swimming to the exit before stopping and swimming back inside his travel cot.
Timmy was then shown huddled in a corner, appearing panicked, as several helpers on board used inflatable boats to block the exit.
Timmy’s rescue bid is being funded by two millionaires, despite experts saying he could die anyway.
The dramatic operation to save the 33ft whale, which local media say will cost millions, has split opinion, with biologists questioning whether the 12-tonne animal should have been saved at all, given its poor health and the huge price.
A humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters off the German coast has tried to make a break for it as it is carried towards the North Sea
Video shows Timmy swimming to the exit before stopping and swimming back inside his travel cot
The humpback whale recovered from a shallow bay off Wismar is being transported towards the North Sea in a flooded cargo ship just before the Danish border in Fehmarn, Germany, Wednesday, April 29, 2026
‘I believe the whale will die very soon now. And I would also like to raise the question: What is actually so bad about that?’ said Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, earlier this month.
‘Yes, animals live, animals die. This animal is really, really, very, very, very sick. And it has decided to seek rest.’
Some scientists believe the whale had searched especially for shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest.
The veterinarians of the private initiative, however, consider the animal fit for transport.
Timmy swam onto a sandbank more than a month ago off the Baltic coast in Germany, and its health deteriorated as it repeatedly became stranded.
He was coaxed into the vessel on Tuesday in a last-ditch attempt to return it to the sea after weeks of struggle along Germany’s coast.
The dramatic operation to save the 33ft whale has split opinion
Pictured: Timmy the whale being transported in his barge
The ship Fortuna B, which is towing the barge, was located between the Danish islands of Langeland and Lolland at around 2pm on Wednesday, according to VesselFinder, with officials saying it could reach the North Sea in two days.
‘If everything goes well, he’ll be in the North Sea in two days. The very worst is already behind him now,’ said Till Backhaus, environment minister for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.