SAVUDRIJA BAY, CROATIA – A giant 12-metre humpback whale crossed over from the Slovenian side of the bay to the Croatian side. 

But this is actually a very sad story because this very rare and protected animal, which is the largest mammal in the sea, could be stranded and die unless it turns around and starts swimming towards the open sea.

The humpback whale usually lives in the Atlantic ocean.

People from the Savudrija Bay watched the whale from shore and various boats. They say the whale came as close to the shore as 15 metres.

- Today I videoed it from 12:30 to 13:00 hours as it was swimming along the coast off the tourist resort. It is strange that he arrived here. It is enormous. Some fishing boats tried to guide it towards the open sea, but did not manage to make the whale turn. I hope it won’t become stranded – said Elena Maurel, who sent us the photograph of the whale.