32-foot whale was entangled in nets off Poland. Then rescuers stepped in, video shows

A humpback whale was rescued after becoming entangled in fishing nets in the Baltic Sea — an unusual place for the species to be found.

The ensnared marine mammal was spotted about 260 feet offshore from Międzyzdroje — a seaside town in northwest Poland — on Feb. 26, according to a news release from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Poland office.

Lines dotted with buoys were wrapped around the whale’s torso and tail, posing a threat to its survival.

Upon being alerted to the situation, Polish rescue services were immediately dispatched to assist the animal, which measured about 32 feet long.

After navigating alongside the creature in a small, inflatable boat, they were successfully able to free it.

“The humpback whale was relatively calm,” Agnieszka Veljkovic, a spokesperson for the WWF in Poland told the Agence France-Presse, according to a report published by 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,” Veljkovic added.

A video posted by Sebstian Kluska, the director of Poland’s Maritime Search and Rescue Service, shows rescuers cheering and clapping as the whale slowly drifted off and submerged beneath the surface.

Hopefully it will be able to find its way “home,” WWF said.

Rare sighting

Humpback whales are not typically seen in the Baltic Sea, which has shallow water and is connected to the North Sea by the Danish Straits, according to the WWF. Instead, they prefer the open ocean.

Sightings in the area — which offers little food for the filter-feeding animals — are considered rare, according to the AFP, via Barron’s.

They aren’t unheard of, though.

A pair of humpbacks were observed in the sea near Denmark and Germany in 2014, according to Science in Poland.

And, in 2008, a lone humpback was spotted in the Baltic off the coast of Germany, according to NBC News.

Joerg Feddern, a biologist with Greenpeace, an environmental group, told the outlet that it was the first sighting since 2004.

As to how the whale got there, experts said there were several possibilities, including that it became confused by underwater noises or that it simply followed the ocean currents.

Google Translate was used to translate a news release from the WWF’s Poland office.

This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM with the headline "32-foot whale was entangled in nets off Poland. Then rescuers stepped in, video shows."