A humpback whale stranded on a sandbank off Germany's Baltic coast has freed itself and was heading back out to sea on Sunday but was still at risk, authorities said. It freed itself from a first sandbank on Friday, after a mechanical digger set up an escape route, but became trapped again on another. Rising waters in the bay helped the whale a second time and it started swimming away late on Saturday, a regional government spokesman told German media. A German maritime police vessel is tracking the whale as it could become trapped again in the bay's shallow waters, the spokesman added. Experts hope the whale will return to its natural habitat in the Atlantic through the North Sea.

Source: The Local March 29, 2026 19:37 UTC