Hobby angler Bernd Zimmermann could hardly believe his eyes when a huge marine mammal appeared next to his small fishing boat on Monday. "I like to go fishing far out and was close to the traffic separation scheme north of Rügen when I heard it blow out. The whale surfaced next to my boat and stayed close to me for at least 20 minutes," reports the man from Lübeck, still audibly moved by the unusual encounter. "At one point, I saw its blow close to me and knew that the rest of the animal was directly under my boat - it took my breath away for a moment!"
In the end, the whale swam off towards Bornholm, "an almost mystical sight in the glassy sea," Zimmermann enthuses. He had actually wanted to film this unique encounter in its entirety, "but in the excitement I forgot to start the recording!" he explains. He only managed a few quick shots. This rare sighting in the Baltic Sea is causing quite a stir, as humpback whales are normally at home in the world's oceans and only rarely venture into the shallower waters of the Baltic Sea.
A cub on the wrong track
"I can't see how big the animal is in the pictures. But what I have seen is that this is still a very, very young whale. Also from the shape of the head and the distance from the head to the fin," explains Prof Dr Judith Denkinger, curator for marine mammals at the German Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund. She confirms that the young animal is a humpback whale. She can sadly deny media speculation that it could be the same young whale that was caught in a fishing net in Poland in February: that whale was stranded near Denmark and dissected. "Unfortunately, the Baltic Sea is something of a death trap for large whales."
Humpback whales are not native to the Baltic Sea. They only occasionally stray into these waters, presumably when they lose their bearings on their migrations. These marine mammals, which can grow up to 15 metres long and weigh up to 30 tonnes, normally live in the open oceans. According to the WWF, there are over 65,000 humpback whales worldwide with populations in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Southern Hemisphere. The reasons for the appearance of whales in the Baltic Sea are not always clear. It is often related to the search for food, for example when schools of fish deviate from their usual routes due to storms. The young animal sighted off Hiddensee is also likely to have accidentally ended up in the Baltic Sea during its migration from warmer latitudes, such as the Azores or the Caribbean, to the Arctic.
Whale sightings in the Baltic Sea are increasing
The encounter off Hiddensee is not the only notable whale sighting in the Baltic Sea in recent times. In 2016, a young humpback whale stayed in the Greifswald Bodden for months and even collided with a sailing yacht. In the A large marine mammal lost its way in April 2024 to Kiel and Glückstadt. In the Øresund, the strait between Denmark and Sweden A humpback whale was also filmed on 8 September 2024. Jens Peder Jeppesen, Director of the Øresund Aquarium and marine biologist, emphasised the uniqueness of this fairway: "The Øresund surprises us again and again and we can't say often enough how unique this fairway between Sweden and Denmark is." Also in the Flensburg Fjord two humpback whales caused quite a stir on Friday, 8 September 2024. They even strayed into the Glücksburg marina, where sailing instructor Jan Philip Leon from the Hanseatic Yacht School Glücksburg filmed the impressive scene. Experts estimated that it was a young animal with its mother, with the larger animal being over ten metres long.
Don't be afraid of whale encounters!
According to Judith Denkinger, there is no need to worry when recreational boaters encounter humpback whales; "The animals are large, but very good-natured, so you really don't need to be afraid." She recommends adapting your driving behaviour to the noise-sensitive mammals by lowering the engine and slowing down the boat if necessary. It is also important not to circle the rare guests or to follow them constantly. Calm behaviour and avoiding loud noises help to avoid disturbing the majestic marine mammals - and create the perfect backdrop for Denkinger's recommendation: "Just enjoy the sighting!"
In case of sighting: please report
Jens Peder Jeppesen from Øresund Aquarium is calling on people to report sightings and share their experiences. The German Oceanographic Museum asks for reportswhenever skippers encounter marine mammals - including smaller harbour porpoises or seals - and to take as many photos as possible. Both can provide valuable data for researchers and improve our understanding of the movements of marine animals. If you want to know where harbour porpoises, bottlenose dolphins and the like prefer to hang out, you can take a look at the Sighting map of the Oceanographic Museum.
