Stranded Whale Freed From Sandbank Off German Coast

Berlin: A humpback whale stranded on a sandbank off Germany's Baltic coast has freed itself and was heading back out to sea on Sunday but was still at risk, authorities said.

The 13.5-metre (44-foot) long mammal spent six days struggling on sandbanks in Lubeck bay and vets had feared for its health as the ordeal went on.

It freed itself from a first sandbank on Friday, after a mechanical digger set up an escape route, but became trapped again on another.

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Rising waters in the bay helped the whale a second time and it started swimming away late on Saturday, a regional government spokesman told German media.

A German maritime police vessel is tracking the whale as it could become trapped again in the bay's shallow waters, the spokesman added.

Police have kept tourist boats away from the animal to avoid adding to its stress.

Experts hope the whale will return to its natural habitat in the Atlantic through the North Sea.

Humpbacks are rarely seen in the Baltic and the experts said it may have been following a shoal of fish or been distracted by the noise of a submarine.

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