In brief
After being stranded on a sandbank near Lübeck for several days, a humpback whale has successfully freed itself with the help of rescue efforts. The whale is now reported to be swimming in deeper waters, escorted by rescue boats.
A humpback whale has freed itself from a sandbank near the German coastal city of Lübeck, after a series of rescue attempts.
Rescue teams now hope the whale will swim out of the shallow waters of Lübeck Bay and into the wider sea.
Reports at first light that the whale had swum off the sandbank were confirmed by Stephanie Gross from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, who said a colleague was in an inflatable boat alongside the mammal.
The whale, which is 10-12m (32-40ft) in length, was first spotted stranded near the resort of Timmendorfer Strand last Monday. Several attempts were made to free the humpback during the week.
Eventually, two diggers were deployed on Thursday to dredge a channel for the whale to swim into deeper water.
Biologist Robert Marc Lehmann, who had tried to coax the whale into the channel on Thursday, said the mammal was not yet safe and it was crucial that it remained in open water and eventually swam out into the wider Baltic Sea.
Stephanie Gross said early on Friday that the whale was being escorted by several boats about 300m off the coast.
