dpa/ | In the port of Kirchdorf on the island of Poel, animal rights activists are demonstrating for more action in the rescue of the whale, as reported by the Ostsee Zeitung. The demonstration is registered for 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. About 50 people formed a human chain. Some held up placards. On these, among other things, it reads: “Your ignorance kills” and “Failure to help is not a misstep. It is a decision.”
On Wednesday, a demonstration was announced under the title “The last chance to save the humpback Hope! – We need Robert Marc Lehmann & his team now with the whale!” The initiator is said to be the group “Save the Ocean,” which describes itself as “dedicated to everything concerning the oceans.” They called for the demonstration on the Baltic Sea island on their Facebook page. “We are here today in Wismar because a humpback whale needs our help. ‘Hope’ is fighting for survival – but instead of rescue, standstill threatens. Time is against him. Every moment counts.”
Not everyone supports the action, however. Among others, the Poeler fire chief Bodo Köpnick criticized the approach. To the Ostsee Zeitung he said: “The whale is a wild animal; they want their peace.”
Tens of Thousands Sign Petition for Marine Biologists
Public pressure on the people responsible for whale rescue is growing. More than 41,000 people signed a petition aimed at reintegrating marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann into whale rescue work. The YouTuber and research diver had been involved in rescuing the whale partly on his own initiative until he was excluded by those in charge. According to Lehmann, the reason was that he was accused of self-promotion. Since the whale stranded on March 23, he has been posting short videos on Instagram about the whale rescue and criticizing the current approach.
The petition calls for granting Lehmann and his team authorization to participate in operations and to be equipped.
Rescue Attempts Halted on Wednesday
The humpback whale stranded near Wismar in the Baltic did not move at night either. The marine mammal lay in the Kirchsee Bay in the same position in the morning. “He is still there,” a spokesman for the Water Police said in the morning. The hopes that he would free himself and make his way into deeper water on his own did not come true.
Whether the animal is still alive could not be said by the spokesman at first. “The boat crew tonight was not close enough to tell whether he is still breathing or not.” In the live footage from the bay, however, small water jets were regularly visible around 6:30 a.m. It is the fourth time in recent weeks that the whale has become stranded on the Baltic coast.
The rescue attempts were halted on Wednesday. The scientific director of the German Oceanographic Museum, Burkard Baschek, had said: “We are firmly convinced that the animal will die there.” Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) also stressed that the animal should be left at its current resting place. “We have done everything to give it its chance. This is a unique tragedy. It chose to face it this way.”
The animal is clearly weakened. A 500-meter exclusion zone was established around the whale, which, according to Backhaus, is strictly enforced. Drone flights are also prohibited. Any violations would be punished as an administrative offense.
Unlike in the days prior, no attempts are being made to coax the whale to swim off. “We would have to stimulate it so massively, which would be futile because it no longer has the strength. And the chances of success are so small that we would regard this as pure animal cruelty,” Baschek said.
Whale Has Been Wandering Around for a Month
Since early March, the marine mammal had repeatedly appeared along the Baltic coast, initially in the port of Wismar. On the night of March 23, it stranded on a sandbank off Timmendorfer Strand in Schleswig-Holstein. Ultimately, the animal managed to leave the shallow water after helpers dug a channel. Afterwards, however, it did not head toward open sea and north, but swam again toward Wismar.
Dead Whale Would Be Brought to Stralsund
If this occurs, as scientists, environmentalists, and politicians now expect and fear, the whale’s carcass would be brought to Stralsund to the German Ocean Museum, which also maintains a dedicated department for marine mammals as a research institution. It would, however, according to Backhaus, explicitly not be about obtaining a skeleton for the museum, but solely about examining the whale after death and determining the cause of death.
