The sanitary inspectorate is monitoring the water in the Baltic Sea near the dead whale.
Sanitary inspectors from Kamień Pomorski collected water samples for testing in the town of Wisełka, where a dead whale washed up in the Baltic Sea. Test results are expected on Thursday. The decomposition of the large marine mammal is accompanied by a bothersome odor. A section of the beach has been closed.
The body of a dead whale washed up in the Baltic Sea on Sunday afternoon near the town of Wisełka, within Wolin National Park. A several-hundred-meter stretch of beach has been closed. On Tuesday, the Kamień Pomorski Sanitary and Epidemiological Station reported collecting water samples from bathing areas along this part of the coast, including Międzyzdroje and Międzywodzie in the Dziwnów commune.
We also took water samples in Wisełka, even though there is no swimming area there and this body of water is not subject to testing, Anna Banasiak, director of the District Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Kamień Pomorski, told PAP.
She explained that water tests would be conducted for Escherischia coli and fecal enterococci (this scope of testing is specified in the regulation under which the sanitary-epidemiological station (Sanepid) collected the samples). The director announced that the results were expected on Thursday. She emphasized that the decomposing whale poses no threat to beachgoers or bathers in the Baltic Sea. She reminded that the preservation of the dead marine mammal is being supervised by state agencies, including the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection.
The area has been fenced. The whale is located approximately 2.5 km from the beach, where bathers may be present, Banasiak explained. "There is no threat. Only a characteristic odor is noticeable," she added.
The head of the PSSE in Kamień Pomorski stressed that the bathing ban introduced on Tuesday at the Dziwnów and Dziwnów Przymorze bathing areas is not related to the decomposing whale carcass.
These two swimming areas were closed due to cyanobacterial blooms, Banasiak explained.
Wolin National Park, where the dead 15-meter whale was stranded, issued a statement to the media on Tuesday, emphasizing that the section of beach "has been secured and fenced off."
Due to the advanced state of decomposition of the dead animal, work will be carried out in the coming days to safely remove it and send it for disposal by a specialized facility, announced the WPN Management Board, which signed the statement. The director of the Wolin National Park is Wioletta Nawrocka - PAP.
“The intense odor felt in the area is a natural result of the decomposition processes of such a large marine organism and should not cause concern, but may cause discomfort,” the statement added.
The WPN statement emphasised that "earlier activities related to securing and sinking the whale" took place within the borders of the WPN and were carried out by "appropriate maritime services and institutions responsible for such operations".
“The park did not participate in these works or in the decision-making process regarding the treatment of the animal,” the WPN statement noted.
The Park was also assured that it "remains in constant contact" with services and institutions to efficiently and safely remove the whale's remains "in a manner that minimizes the impact on the natural environment." It was explained that this was to protect valuable habitats and species found within the WNP, but also to ensure the comfort of those staying on the coast.
The dead marine mammal on the beach in Wisełka is an approximately 15-meter-long whale that was dragged by a tanker to the LNG terminal in Świnoujście on July 25th, and then transported several miles offshore at dawn on August 2nd and sunk. As reported by PAP, the Maritime Office in Szczecin obtained permission from the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Szczecin to "sink" the animal "to spontaneous decomposition in the Bay of Pomerania."
Even though the animal's remains, weighing approximately 12 tons, were sunk to a depth of almost 20 meters and anchored, strong sea currents and winds pushed the whale back towards the beach.
pretty
2025-08-12 19:30:55
The sea cleans itself. It doesn't want a corpse in the depths. Dispose of it on land.
Skeleton
2025-08-12 19:14:29
In the Middle Ages, or the Dark Ages, fishermen in Wolin were able to manage whales, and their skeletons adorned churches. In the 21st century, highly educated people can't even sink a whale at sea. We're waiting for TOZ to intervene and Basta. This whale must rest in peace. It's our lesser brother, or rather, our greater brother, but smaller.
So how many offices are there already?
2025-08-12 18:27:08
Banana Republic is involved in one dead fish? And they still don't know what to do. This is how bureaucratic sprawl paralyzes everything. They're tripping over their own feet.
Kurier Szczecinski
