Dead Humpback Whale Found in German Baltic Sea Waters; Necropsy Planned

A seven-meter-long humpback whale carcass was discovered Thursday in the Greifswalder Bodden, near Stralsund, Germany. Preparations are underway to move the whale from the water to the small island of Dänholm, where a team of about ten scientists will conduct a necropsy. The procedure is expected to begin Friday morning and last several hours, focusing on organ sampling before decomposition progresses too far.

The whale was found floating on its back in the water and had begun to bloat due to decomposition gases, indicating it had been deceased for several hours. Scientists noted that humpback whales typically sink relatively quickly after death. The Greifswalder Bodden is not a natural habitat for these marine mammals, as the lower salinity of the Baltic Sea can be detrimental to their health.

This discovery comes after a period of increased whale sightings along the Baltic Sea coast in recent weeks. Reports have tracked a whale, possibly the same individual, moving eastward from Kiel, through Wismar and Wustrow, and near Międzyzdroje in Poland. A similar incident occurred in the spring when a humpback whale, nicknamed Timmy, stranded near the island of Poel and was controversially transported to the North Sea, only to wash up dead days later off the Danish coast.