Dead sperm whale found stranded in the Greifswalder Bodden in the Baltic Sea

The museum's management announced that a necropsy will be carried out at the museum's facilities to determine the exact causes of death. The results of the section, according to the institution, could shed light on a phenomenon that is recurring with worrying frequency: the presence of cetaceans in waters where, in principle, they should not be found.

Background: sightings in Wismar, Flensburg, and Kiel

The museum's own staff recalled that a humpback whale had been sighted in recent weeks in various locations along the German coast, including Wismar, Flensburg, and Kiel, all of them far from the species' usual range. «Aus der Sektion des Tieres erhoffen wir uns mehr zu erfahren, woran solche hier nicht heimischen Tiere in unseren Gewässern sterben und vielleicht, warum sie überhaupt in das für sie nicht geeignete, teils sogar lebensfeindliche Umfeld einschwimmen», the museum's scientific team stated.

Specialists emphasize that the Baltic represents an especially hostile environment for these large marine mammals, due to its low salinity levels, shallow waters, and the scarcity of the prey they feed on. The arrival of a cetacean of this size in an inlet like the Greifswalder Bodden is, in itself, an exceptional event that has mobilized rescue teams, veterinarians, and biologists for several days.

A hostile environment for cetaceans

The museum took the opportunity to recall that it has a Baltic Sea outreach center, the Nautineum, in Stralsund, where educational programs aimed at disseminating knowledge about the region's marine ecosystems are developed. The rescue and recovery efforts involved various vessels and museum personnel, as well as the support of volunteers and local authorities.

The incident occurs in the middle of the tourist season in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a region especially dependent on coastal tourism. Authorities asked boaters and swimmers to maintain a safe distance and avoid interfering with rescue operations and, subsequently, with the tasks of removing the animal's carcass from the water.

Rescue operation in Dänholm

The sighting of the humpback whale had generated considerable excitement in previous weeks among local residents and visitors to the Baltic coast, with photographs and videos shared on social media from Wismar, Flensburg, and Kiel. The outcome, however, has been the worst expected, and the image of the enormous cetacean floating lifeless in a lagoon barely ten meters deep has caused shock among the inhabitants of Stralsund and neighboring towns.

The Deutsche Meeresmuseum thanked the expressions of solidarity received and announced that it will provide timely updates on the results of the necropsy once the analyses are complete. According to the museum, the findings could be relevant both for the scientific community and for the debate on the conservation of large cetaceans in European waters, increasingly present in a Baltic Sea under growing pressures from climate change and human activity.

What is expected from the necropsy

Experts recall that this is not the first time that deep-water cetaceans have ventured into the Baltic and that, on previous occasions, the specimens located also failed to survive in an environment that, according to biologists, is teils lebensfeindlich —partially hostile to life— for these species.