A Beluga whale has made its way from the coast of Denmark towards the border with Germany, according to local media. The sighting comes after a humpback whale stranded in the Baltic Sea captivated Germany last month.
A white Beluga whale has been spotted in the narrow straits around the Flensburg Firth, the waterway which divides Germany from Denmark near the northern German city of Flensburg.
According to the local Nordschleswiger (North Schleswig) newspaper, a Danish publication serving Denmark's German-speaking minority in the region, the white whale was first spotted near Arosund last month and has since made its way south past the island of Als and into the firth, known as the Flensburger Förde in German or Flensborg Fjord in Danish.
Beluga whales are said to be friendly, social animals which often travel in groups. They are known for their varied methods of communication with a "language" made up of whistles, chirps and clicks, earning them the nickname "canaries of the sea."
Feeding on herring, salmon, squid and crustaceans, Beluga whales can grow up to six meters long and can weigh over a ton.
They are normally found in sub-arctic regions like Greenland and Norway, but it's not the first time that a Beluga whale has been spotted in southern Denmark, with previous sightings reported in 1903, 1964, the 1980s and 2012.
According to Danish whale researcher Carl Christian Kinze, Beluga whales like coastal areas and this particular individual will likely find its own way back out into more open waters.
What happened to 'Timmy' the humpback whale?
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for "Timmy" the humpback whale which has been repeatedly stranding, freeing and stranding itself again off Germany's northeastern coast for the past month, and is now to be left to die in peace after captivating the country.
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
Germany expects further whale stranding's amid latest rescue attempt
16.04.2026, DPA
Photo: Philip Dulian/dpa
The environment minister of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern expects further whale strandings on German coasts in the future, after a high-profile saga involving a humpback whale that has repeatedly become stuck in the Baltic Sea.
"The next whale is bound to turn up," said Till Backhaus, before the start of a private rescue operation for the whale in the shallow waters off the small Baltic Sea island of Poel on Thursday.
The 12.35-metre animal has been stranded four times off Germany's Baltic coast since the beginning of March.
It most recently got stuck off Poel Island in the Bay of Wismar earlier this month. All rescue attempts for the struggling whale were called off, as experts said they expected the animal to die in the bay, but it has remained alive for more than a week.
Backhaus also referred to a beluga whale that has been sighted off Flensburg. "This means we will have to continue addressing the issue."
Backhaus called for inter-regional coordination to deal with future strandings, and told the television channel News5 that the Maritime Emergency Command was a suitable body for this.
The command was established by Germany's federal government and coastal states to deal with shipping accidents, and has scientists and technical resources at its disposal.
Backhaus said he had submitted a proposal concerning the issue for the conference of Germany's environment ministers in May. He was convinced that the proposal would be approved.
"Money must also be invested here," Backhaus continued, adding that the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation should "find solutions" for staffing and investment.
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