Meerosuupig - Rarer Humpback Whale stirs in the southern North Sea
A rare bottlenose whale, known as a "humpback whale," was recently spotted in the German North Sea off the eastern island of Baltrum. The crew of a surveying ship made a recording of the animal at the end of June, according to Thea Hamm, responsible for marine mammals at the National Park Administration Niedersaachsisches Wattenmeer in Wilhelmshaven. This was undoubtedly a young humpback whale, Hamm stated. "These are very rare guests in the German Bight," she added. Several media outlets had previously reported on the sighting.
Humpback whales measure between 12 and 15 meters in length and can weigh up to 30 tons. They live in polar seas and migrate to tropical waters to breed. "They have to travel back and forth for that," Hamm explained. The exact migration routes are not known, but humpback whales typically migrate from Iceland and Norway, moving westward towards the British Isles. "Calves are more adventurous than adults," the biologist said. It's possible that the calf deviated from its usual route through the North Sea.
Second sighting of a humpback whale in a few weeks
Approximately six weeks ago, a humpback whale was also spotted in the North Sea. Experts from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) are currently investigating as part of a research project how common whales are in the North Sea. According to a report, the experts recorded dozens of sightings of minke whales, pilot whales, and even a humpback whale from a ship. However, the area the researchers are studying, the Dogger Bank, is located further in the central North Sea, about 250 kilometers off Helgoland.
It cannot be definitively determined whether it was the humpback whale recently sighted off Baltrum, Hamm said. However, given the rarity of protected species in the North Sea, the likelihood is high.
Humpback whales are frequent guests along German coasts
Humpback whales are frequently spotted along the German coasts. In early April, a whale caused a stir at the Schleswig-Holstein Ostsee coast. The whale was swimming in circles in the Flensburg and Kiel Fjord. Experts from the Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) believed that schools of herring had attracted the whale to the Ostsee coast.
Since 2003, according to the Wattenmeer Protection Station, there have been almost annual sightings of individual humpback whales along the Dutch coast in the Wattenmeer. In winter 2012, a 12-meter-long humpback whale beached and died on a sandbank off the island of Texel in the shallow Wattenmeer.
The risk of stranding for the recently sighted humpback whale off Baltrum is low, Hamm said. "Unlike gray whales, humpback whales can cope well with shallow water. Gray whales, on the other hand, often strand when they enter the North Sea." Gray whales, however, are not found in the North Atlantic.
- The rare sighting of the humpback whale in Williamshaven's nearby waters has sparked interest among marine biologists in Lower Saxony, Germany.
- The North Sea, a vast body of sea mammal habitat, has seen an unexpected visitor in the form of a humpback whale, which was previously reported off the eastern island of Baltrum.
- The exact level of humpback whale population in the North Sea is under investigation by scientists from SeaMammal in Bucklewal, as they recorded several sightings of these sea mammals, including a humpback whale near the Dogger Bank.
- The sea protection department in Wilhelmshaven is closely monitoring the current situation of the humpback whale off the coast of Baltrum, as the water in the North Sea around this region is not typically deep enough for these large sea mammals.
- Over in the nearby town of Baltrum, residents and tourists alike are excited about the potential impact this sea mammal could have on their local nature protection efforts and the North Sea ecosystem.
- As humpback whales are frequently seen along the German coastlines, it's possible that future investigations will reveal even more information about their migration patterns and behavior in the North Sea.
