Rescuers try to refloat a stranded humpback whale in Germany’s Baltic Sea

BERLIN (AP) — Rescue teams in northern Germany are working to refloat a humpback whale stranded in shallow water in the Baltic Sea, racing against time in an effort to save its life.

Experts gathered Tuesday morning on the Timmendorfer Strand beach to find a way to get the 10-meter-long (30-feet-long) mammal off the ground after the high tide around midnight was not sufficient for the animal to swim free, German news agency dpa reported.

Earlier rescue efforts on Monday afternoon with police boats, inflatable boats and the help of firefighter drones guiding the rescue efforts were also unsuccessful.

The animal is still alive, breathing, making sounds and occasionally lifting its head, Carsten Mannheimer of the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd told dpa.

So far, all rescue efforts have proven difficult.

Rescuers initially managed to turn the whale so its head was pointing toward deeper water, hoping it could find its own way back there, but the animal then turned back to its previous position. Boats from the coast guard and the fire department passed by, creating large waves in the hope of freeing the animal — but also without success, German public broadcaster NDR reported.

The animal, which weighs several tons, cannot actively be pulled back into deeper water because it could be seriously injured in the process, experts said.

“If the whale can’t get off the beach, it’s a death sentence for the animal,” Sven Biertümpfel of Sea Shepherd told NDR, adding that the whale’s condition is deteriorating by the hour.

Experts assume that the whale is a young male, as males, unlike females, tend to migrate. It also seems to be the same whale that has been spotted several times in the port of Wismar in eastern Germany in recent weeks.

It was not immediately clear why the whale got stranded, but rescuers found parts of a fishing net wrapped around the body of the whale, which they managed to cut off.

In the meantime, police cordoned off the beach area with construction fences to keep a large crowd of onlookers at bay.

“It is very important that the animal does not become even more stressed,” police spokesperson Ulli Fritz Gerlach said.

Standing at a distance from the scene, strollers were out and about on the beach, moved by the struggle of the whale.

“Poor thing. I hope he can still be saved,” said Stefan Stauch, who had come with his wife from the nearby village of Scharbeutz. He said they had heard the whale’s sounds during the night.

“We had hoped that the rising tide during the night would free him, but that didn’t work out.”