Rescuers try to refloat a stranded humpback whale in Germany’s Baltic Sea

BERLIN (AP) — Rescue teams in northern Germany are working to refloat a humpback whale stranded in shallow water in the Baltic Sea, racing against time in an effort to save its life.

Experts gathered Tuesday morning on the Timmendorfer Strand beach to find a way to get the 10-meter-long (30-feet-long) mammal off the ground after the high tide around midnight was not sufficient for the animal to swim free, German news agency dpa reported.

Earlier rescue efforts on Monday afternoon with police boats, inflatable boats and the help of firefighter drones guiding the rescue efforts were also unsuccessful.

The animal is still alive, breathing, making sounds and occasionally lifting its head, Carsten Mannheimer of the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd told dpa.

So far, all rescue efforts have proven difficult.

Rescuers initially managed to turn the whale so its head was pointing toward deeper water, hoping it could find its own way back there, but the animal then turned back to its previous position. Boats from the coast guard and the fire department passed by, creating large waves in the hope of freeing the animal — but also without success, German public broadcaster NDR reported.

The animal, which weighs several tons, cannot actively be pulled back into deeper water because it could be seriously injured in the process, experts said.

“If the whale can’t get off the beach, it’s a death sentence for the animal,” Sven Biertümpfel of Sea Shepherd told NDR, adding that the whale’s condition is deteriorating by the hour.

Experts assume that the whale is a young male, as males, unlike females, tend to migrate. It also seems to be the same whale that has been spotted several times in the port of Wismar in eastern Germany in recent weeks.

It was not immediately clear why the whale got stranded, but rescuers found parts of a fishing net wrapped around the body of the whale, which they managed to cut off.

In the meantime, police cordoned off the beach area with construction fences to keep a large crowd of onlookers at bay.

"It is very important that the animal does not become even more stressed,” police spokesperson Ulli Fritz Gerlach said.

Standing at a distance from the scene, strollers were out and about on the beach, moved by the struggle of the whale.

“Poor thing. I hope he can still be saved,” said Stefan Stauch, who had come with his wife from the nearby village of Scharbeutz. He said they had heard the whale's sounds during the night.

“We had hoped that the rising tide during the night would free him, but that didn’t work out.”

A cost guard boat patrols near a whale which washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)

People from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research observe a whale washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)

Rescue workers try to bring a whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast back into deep water, near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Jens Büttner/dpa via AP)

People from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research and firefighters attempt to free a whale washed up on the beach on the Baltic coast near Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Center fielder Trent Grisham left the New York Yankees' game Friday night against San Diego because of discomfort in his right hamstring.

Grisham drew a walk from Walker Buehler leading off the second inning and was thrown out trying to steal second base. In the bottom of the inning, he had a hard time getting to Xander Bogaerts' RBI single.

He was being taken out after the top of the third.

Manager Aaron Boone said Grisham will likely undergo imaging.

Grisham said he felt something in his hamstring while trying to steal the base.

Grisham said the timing of the injury “is disappointing for sure. But that's part of the game. That's what we sign up for. Hopefully it's nothing too problematic.”

The Yankees lost 3-2 on Luis Campusano's two-run home run in the 10th.

Rookie Spencer Jones, who is from Encinitas in northern San Diego County, moved from right field to center field, and Heliot Ramos entered in Grisham's spot in the order playing right field.

Grisham came into Friday night hitting .211 with 18 homers and 59 RBIs.

He played with the Padres from 2020 through 2023 before being traded to the Yankees along with Juan Soto in a seven-player blockbuster Dec. 7, 2023.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

New York Yankees' Trent Grisham reacts during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)