As of: April 9, 2024, 7:36 a.m
By: Jakob Koch
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The humpback whale was spotted in the Flensburg Fjord. © Jan Philip Leon / dpa (2)
Rare sighting in the north of the Republic: A sailing instructor filmed a humpback whale up close in a sailing harbor on the Flensburg Fjord.
Flensburg – The spectacle happened on Friday. Sailing instructor Jan Philip Leon from the Hanseatic Yacht School Glücksburg reported the sighting: “It was around 10:20 a.m. when we were working on our boats, and then the whales announced themselves with loud cries of seagulls,” said Leon. “My impression was that there were two whales. I can't say 100 percent exactly." The whale or whales appeared in the harbor entrance and took a short harbor tour, reported Leon. The Nature Conservation Association Nabu still warns: you shouldn't get too close to the animal.
Twelve-meter-long humpback whale spotted in the Flensburg Fjord – “very impressive”
Sailing instructor Jan Philip Leon was only three meters away from the animal. “That was very impressive. You don’t see that every day.” Leon filmed the event in the harbor. The Nabu nature conservation association now assumes that it was a twelve-meter-long humpback whale. Dagmar Struß, head of the Baltic Sea Protection State Office, expressed the hope that the animal would soon leave the Baltic Sea again. “The loud and polluted Baltic Sea stresses marine mammals,” she said. In addition, fishing nets pose a great danger in the inland sea, which is used heavily for economic purposes.
How the whale got into the Baltic Sea still seems unclear. During the winter months, humpback whales stay in tropical areas and swim to the North Atlantic in the summer. Struß
told
RTL
: “The animal was probably on its way there and then took a wrong turn.” It happens from time to time that visiting whales swim in our area. Actually, they are more likely fin whales or minke whales,” says Struß. Just recently, researchers filmed humpback whales mating for the first time ever.
Followed herrings into the Baltic Sea? Humpback whales visit every now and then
The Nabu expert suspects that the whale could have followed herring into the Baltic Sea, which it probably wanted to eat. “The fish population is dwindling and that is why they may also be looking for food in atypical areas.”
Humpback whales have been spotted again and again in the Baltic Sea. For example, in 2016, a young humpback whale stayed in the Greifswald Bodden for months. According to the Nature Conservation Association, he even collided with a sailboat in stormy weather. It was later assumed that he had left the Baltic Sea again because he did not wash up anywhere.
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It's better not to get too close to the humpback whale in Flensburg: "The animal is naturally powerful due to its size and then unintentional collisions can occur, especially with a canoe or sailing boat," says Dagmar Struß on
RTL
. Recently, a baby humpback whale dragged a surfer meters deep under water.