Polish rescue teams free humpback whale stranded on Baltic coast 27/02/2025

This handout photo taken and released by the Polish Maritime Search and Rescue Service on February 26, 2025, shows a humpback whale that became entangled in fishing nets floating in the Baltic Sea, off the Polish coast, near Szczecin. Handout Polish Maritime Search and Rescue

A humpback whale almost 10 meters (32 feet) long was freed in a rescue operation on Wednesday after becoming entangled in fishing nets while floating in Poland's coastal waters. Whale sightings in the Baltic Sea, which includes Polish waters, are rare as it is a relatively small area with little food for such large animals. Photo by HANDOUT /Polish Maritime Search and Rescue

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Polish rescue teams free humpback whale stranded on Baltic coast

A humpback whale almost 10 meters long was freed in a rescue operation on Wednesday after becoming entangled in fishing nets while floating in Poland's coastal waters.

Whale sightings in the Baltic Sea, which includes Polish waters, are rare as it is a relatively small area with little food for such large animals.

“The rescue operation was a success. The animal has been released,” Agnieszka Veljkovic, spokeswoman for the World Wildlife Fund Poland, told AFP.

The animal was seen 80 meters from the coast, near the town of Miedzyzdroje and Wolin National Park, in the far northwest of Poland.

“The humpback whale was relatively calm. On the rescuers' second attempt to remove the nets, it seemed to understand that we were coming to its aid and almost started to cooperate,” Veljkovic added.

She said that the experts will now monitor the animal, hoping that it will find its way back to the open waters through the straits between Denmark and Sweden.

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