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A humpback whale that was stranded off the coast of Germany is back in his natural habitat. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports from Berlin on the controversial human intervention that got him there.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: In late March, the 40-foot-long young adult whale injured from being entangled in a fishing net became stuck in the shallow waters off Germany's Baltic coast, prompting scientists to try and free it. But then the hapless humpback, which the German media nicknamed Timmy, swam further into the Baltic Sea, a body of water where humpbacks rarely venture. And it got stuck again and again over the course of a month, prompting an intense social media debate in Germany. At one point, police had to investigate threats of violence from social media influencers against scientists who were strategizing what to do about Timmy. One of those scientists, Burkard Baschek of the German Oceanographic Museum, told NPR at the time that his team thought it might be better to let Timmy die.
BURKARD BASCHEK: And if you just look from the pure nature perspective itself, then the whales that sort of get lost in the Baltic Sea and don't get out and die at the end - that's part of the natural process. And the rescue missions, per se, are interfering with the natural course.
SCHMITZ: But then two German business moguls stepped in. They donated millions of dollars to an effort to coax Timmy into a water-filled barge that was half the length of a football field.
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SCHMITZ: Amazingly, the 26,000-pound Timmy swam into the barge last week, and the barge was then towed out of the Baltic Sea around the northern tip of Denmark. On Saturday, Timmy was released into the deep waters of the North Sea.
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UNIDENTIFIED BROADCASTER: (Speaking German).
SCHMITZ: A German broadcaster gushed over Timmy's newfound freedom as cameras captured mist being shot out of the whale's blowhole. Scientist Baschek says Timmy's survival is far from guaranteed. He says the whale is weakened by weeks of immobility and a skin disease from the low salinity of the Baltic Sea. Timmy was last seen more than 40 miles off the coast of Denmark, and if he gets stuck again, the Danish Environment Ministry says it is not planning any more rescue efforts.
Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Berlin.
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