Attempts to rescue a young humpback whale stranded in shallow waters off the Baltic coast in Germany have been criticised by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as “inadvisable”.
The 10 metre-long whale, variously nicknamed Timmy or Hope, swam on to a sandbank more than a month ago and its health deteriorated as it repeatedly became stranded. Hopes were raised on Tuesday when divers helped the mammal on to a flooded barge. By Wednesday, the barge, pulled by a tug boat, had reached Danish waters as it headed towards the North Sea.
