Humpback whale in the Baltic Sea off Rügen? Video triggers online concern
Nonnevitz. Spectacular video: Vacationers filmed a whale in the Baltic Sea off the island of Rügen on Tuesday (July 15). According to the Vorpommern-Rügen Animal Rescue, the clip was recorded off Nonnevitz. Several vacationers have reportedly sent videos to the animal rights activists.
In a roughly one-minute video circulating on Facebook, an animal can be seen in the water. A large tail fin appears several times and splashes onto the surface. The animal can also be seen blowing out its blowhole.
According to animal rights activists, the spectacle lasted about 15 minutes. Several recordings of the event are said to exist.
The German Oceanographic Museum confirmed in response to an inquiry by OZ that the animal is a male humpback whale. "Our expert Judith Denkinger is certain that it is the same whale that was last spotted off Hiddensee," said spokeswoman Almut Neumeister.
It was a young marine mammal, approximately eight to ten meters long, that had strayed into the Baltic Sea. Humpback whales typically live in the North Atlantic. The Baltic Sea, as an inland sea, is too small, and there is also too little food for animals of this size.
According to Neumeister, the whale could have been disturbed by underwater noise, such as ship engines, pile-driving for offshore wind turbines, or sonar. It's also possible that it was swimming after its food and thus became disoriented.
Humpback whales are so-called baleen whales. They feed primarily on krill and fish, filtering their food from the water with their tooth-like baleen.
According to Neumeister, it's unclear how long these animals can survive in the Baltic Sea. "The fact that the humpback whale has been here for several months now shows that there has been sufficient food available so far." However, the videos from Tuesday only revealed a small part of the whale—too little to assess the marine mammal's health.
In the online comments, many are happy about the animal. Other viewers, however, also express concern. Gudrun Ongrowski asks: "But isn't this also a sign that there are now too many offshore turbines in the sea? I think they orient themselves – like dolphins – using ultrasonic signals, and these are disrupted by this."
Gabriel Maiwald says: "Let's keep our fingers crossed that things turn out well for the little guy." And Herbert Hülsbergen says: "Hopefully he finds his way out to the North Sea quickly, otherwise he'll starve to death within three weeks."
Hans-Jürgen Kaufhold interprets the animal's behavior as follows: "It appears to be searching for other whales. Whales often beat the water to communicate with other whales over long distances."
Anyone who sees the animal should keep their distance and remain calm. "Please do not disturb it, otherwise the whale will be further stressed!" says the expert. The peaceful giant poses no danger.
Most recently, a whale was spotted off Ahrenshoop in early May and off the island of Hiddensee on Easter Sunday. In the latter case, an amateur angler described how the animal stayed near his boat for about 20 minutes and then dived underneath him.
The spokeswoman for the German Oceanographic Museum confirms this: “This behavior is observed in whales that want to make contact with their conspecifics,” says Neumeister.
Due to the lack of these in the Baltic Sea, the humpback whale must sooner or later find its way back across the North Sea to the North Atlantic in order to survive. There's no way to help it do this.
The German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund requests that you report any sightings of marine mammals in the Baltic Sea. Please email [email protected]. For dead finds in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, please call +49 3831 2650 3333. For live strandings, the hotline is +49 173 9688 267.
Most recently, whales were spotted off Ahrenshoop in early May and on Easter Sunday off the island of Hiddensee. In one case, members of the Baltic resort's volunteer fire department spotted the animal during a training trip. In the other case, a hobby angler from Lübeck described how the animal stayed near his boat for about 20 minutes and then swam beneath him.
Even then, there was speculation that both cases could be humpback whales, which Polish environmentalists and sea rescuers had freed from a fishing net off the Baltic Sea coast in February. The approximately seven-meter-long young whale had become entangled off the Baltic Sea resort of Międzyzdroje, as an employee of the Wolin National Park told the PAP news agency. The animal was freed unharmed at the time.
This article first appeared in the “ Ostsee-Zeitung ” – a partner in the Editorial Network Germany.
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