Rescuers attempt to save stranded humpback whale off Germany using air cushions

Rescuers have initiated a new effort to free a humpback whale stranded off Germany's northern coast by using inflatable air cushions.

The whale, nicknamed Timmy, has been stuck in shallow waters near the island of Poel in the Baltic Sea since early March.

Officials from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania described the operation as a "minimally invasive" approach.

A private company plans to lift the whale by its flippers onto a tarp attached to a tug boat using the air cushions.

The whale remains alive but is severely weakened, and the prognosis is critical.

Environment Minister Till Backhaus said the chance of survival is very low but cannot be completely ruled out.

The plan is to move the whale along Denmark's coastline into the North Sea, with the possibility of further relocation to the Atlantic Ocean.

Previous rescue attempts, including digging a channel to free the whale, have failed.

The whale is thought to have become entangled in netting before becoming stranded on a sandbank and is suffering from a skin condition caused by the lower salt levels of the Baltic Sea.

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