Published March 25, 2026 — last updated March 25, 2026
Rescue teams in northern Germany are racing to free a humpback whale that has been stranded on a sandbank in Lübeck Bay off Niendorf beach since Monday. The roughly 10-meter-long animal, likely a young male, has been stuck in shallow water with its back visible above the surface; low vocalizations from the whale can be heard from hundreds of meters away.
An initial attempt to free the whale using a suction dredger failed because the machine was not powerful enough to remove the compacted sand surrounding the animal. Authorities and marine rescuers say larger, heavier machinery is en route and expected to arrive on Thursday to continue dredging and other rescue measures. Sea Shepherd marine conservation representative Carsten Mannheimer described the situation as difficult and said rescuers were limited in what they could do until better equipment arrived. He and others suggested the whale likely became stuck while migrating and noted it may be the same animal seen repeatedly in the area earlier this month.
Efforts to prevent strandings are challenging, and time is pressing as prolonged stranding increases the whale’s risk of injury, dehydration and internal stress. Teams on site include local firefighters and specialists from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), coordinating with conservation groups as they prepare to use larger machinery to try to free the animal.
Elsewhere in Germany on Wednesday, authorities mounted a major security operation to escort the first of a series of nuclear waste transports from the former research reactor site in Jülich to an interim storage facility in Ahaus, North Rhine-Westphalia. Around 100 vehicles — including dozens of police units — accompanied the heavy-load transporter, with highway exits temporarily closed at points along the route. The operation marks the start of moving 152 Castor containers in total; police said about 2,400 officers were deployed across the series of transports. Small groups of protesters gathered along parts of the route.
In Berlin, four Greenpeace activists suspended themselves from a large construction crane near the Chancellery and unfurled a 100-square-meter banner reading “Freedom instead of fossil fuel politics.” The action was meant to highlight what the group calls shortcomings in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s forthcoming climate protection program, which pledges a 65% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Greenpeace warned the measures announced so far are unlikely to close a “massive gap” in emissions targets and called for a clearer roadmap to phase out fossil fuels.
Authorities and rescuers continue to monitor the stranded whale as they prepare for renewed efforts once heavier equipment arrives.