Barge carrying humpback whale journeys to North Sea

Efforts to coax the whale towards deeper seas from where it had become repeatedly stranded in shallow waters near Germany were unsuccessful (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)

A barge carrying a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March has begun its journey towards the North Sea, authorities said.

Nicknamed Timmy by German media, the whale was spotted swimming near the country’s Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.