Humpback whale strays into Oosterschelde estuary

This 2014 video says about itself:

During the world circumnavigation with the ‘Oosterschelde‘ we were welcomed by about 6 humpback whales who did a nice performance. This happened on the south-east side of Australia.

Unfortunately, today not so good news from the Oosterschelde estuary after which that ship was named.

This video is about a humpback whale, seen 15 February 2015 near Wemeldinge along the Oosterschelde.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

Little hope for humpback in the Oosterschelde

Today, 11:41

In the Oosterschelde, near the Zeeland Bridge this weekend a young humpback whale was spotted. That had never happened before. The animal still swims around. Its survival chances are not big, says the SOS Dolphin Foundation. …

On Saturday, the first report on the humpback came, one day later the animal first appeared on images.

It is unknown how young the animal is, what is its sex, and whether it can survive independently. “It accidentally swum into the Oosterschelde, hunting for fish,” thinks Annemarie van den Berg of SOS Dolphin.

The animal swims at this time in the eastern corner of the Oosterschelde. Not a good sign. “There are just more rivers there, so it is more likely it will get stranded.”

There is still hope. “It swims properly and if the animal find its way back, it’ll be fine,” says Van den Berg. “But porpoises have previously shown that they often do not dare to get back.”

The foundation calls on people to stay away from the animal. Van den Berg: “If people are going to flock to that animal in boats, then it is in big trouble. The boats can block the way back to the North Sea. Then the probability of survival really becomes nil. In addition, the noise may cause a lot of stress and of that it has enough already.”