A humpback whale that had been stranded in Germany has been released in the North Sea.
AFP wrote on Saturday, citing a member of the rescue operation.
The German media has named the whale Timmy.
AFP has previously reported that it caused an outcry when German authorities dropped the attempt to save the whale in early April.
This happened after the whale had been stranded several times in shallow areas off northern Germany at the time.
According to AFP, the German authorities were then persuaded to approve a privately funded rescue plan.
Earlier this week, several media outlets, including German Bild and Ekstra Bladet, reported that Timmy was being transported through Danish waters.
The operation is being financed by two millionaires. The price for the operation has not been disclosed.
The whale left the barge it had been pulled onto from Wismar Bay on the Baltic Sea coast at around 8:45 a.m. Saturday morning, Karin Walter-Mommert from the rescue initiative said.
It is now swimming freely and – at least for now – in the right direction, she said, according to AFP.
But even though the aim of the operation is to save the humpback whale, employees from the German Maritime Museum have not been enthusiastic.
They believe that the rescue attempt will subject the animal to a great deal of stress and at the same time have poor odds of success.
But Till Backhaus, the environment minister in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, said before the whale's departure that it is "doing well."
