A young humpback whale in unusual territory encountered a deadly obstacle, but rescuers were able to free the juvenile and send it on its way.
As detailed by Polskie Radio, locals spotted the whale entangled in fishing nets near the coastal town of Międzyzdroje in northwestern Poland. The sighting was unexpected because humpback whales don't usually make their way to the Baltic Sea.
🚨Kto ze mną na profilu ten zobaczy filmik bomba, kto nie obserwuje ten trąba Moment uwolnienia #humbak
— Sebastian Kluska (@KluskaSebastian) February 26, 2025
Film Grzegorz Smoter BSR Dziwnów 🫡‼️‼️‼️🚨 pic.twitter.com/zGDjqagL38
Beata Więcaszek, a biologist at the West Pomeranian University of Technology, told Polish website Portal Morski that the Baltic is too shallow and doesn't have enough food for humpbacks, per English-language podcast Notes from Poland.
However, a warming climate or noise pollution could've caused it to drift into the undesirable area — and straight into a marine hazard frequently referred to as a "silent killer."
Sadly, the International Whaling Commission estimates 300,000-plus whales and dolphins die each year due to bycatch (unintentional capture during commercial fishing) and entanglement in fishing gear, with untracked marine debris also impacting unknown numbers.
However, supporting conservation organizations and participating in community cleanups can help limit the effects of human activities on creatures like whales, which play crucial roles as ecosystem engineers, distributing nutrients and having a positive impact on carbon storage, according to a study from the University of Vermont.
As for the young humpback in Poland, it happily lived to see another day, per Polskie Radio.
Even though it was frightened, it eventually allowed rescuers from Poland's Maritime Search and Rescue Service, and Water Volunteer Rescue Service Międzyzdroje — along with firefighters and volunteers with the World Wildlife Fund — to free it from the net, and it swam toward the Danish straits, presumably to return to the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
"The humpback whale was relatively calm," WWF Poland spokesperson Agnieszka Veljkovic told Agence France-Presse, per Barron's. "On the second attempt by the rescuers to remove the nets, it seemed to understand that we were coming to its aid and almost began to cooperate."
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