Overview
- Timmy, a humpback whale, remains alive but stuck off the island of Poel in the same spot for more than a week, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern environment ministry said.
- Whale and Dolphin Conservation reported the animal no longer reacts to boats, which the group says is a sign the whale is dying.
- The German Ocean Museum assessed that a live refloat is not possible because water levels are too low and the whale is too weak to swim free.
- Schleswig-Holstein environment minister Tobias Goldschmidt welcomed fresh protection proposals, with plans to take the issue up with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Till Backhaus at the upcoming environment ministers’ conference.
- Backhaus has, according to media reports, proposed a vote among Germany’s federal states on how to handle future whale strandings.