Timmy the humpback whale has begun a crucial journey towards the North Sea aboard a barge, after months stranded in shallow German waters. The operation aims to return the mammal to its natural Atlantic Ocean habitat.

First spotted near Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on 3 March, Timmy’s health deteriorated from repeated strandings, far from its usual home.

Unsuccessful efforts to coax it into deeper waters were widely livestreamed.

In the latest rescue attempt, teams spent hours on Tuesday carefully pulling the whale onto a flooded barge using straps and a dredged channel, the German press agency dpa reported.

The barge reached Fehmarn island in northern Germany, near Danish waters, early Wednesday, Bild reported. Its route will take it around Denmark’s northern tip, via the Skagerrak strait, towards the North Sea.

Till Backhaus, environment minister of the federal state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern where the whale had been stranded, said on Tuesday he was “on the verge of jumping into the water to help the whale get through the last few meters.”

The minister gave the green light for the latest attempt to save the whale, proposed by a private initiative, despite some warnings from the scientific community that it may be too much for the whale.

The debate about whether the best way to help the animal is to let it die in peace or keep trying to assist its return to the Atlantic Ocean has been ongoing for weeks.

Activists have staged protests on the beach in Wismar calling for the animal’s liberation, while others have supported new ideas about how the whale could be transported toward the ocean.

But Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, told The Associated Press earlier this month that efforts to save Timmy have caused the animal severe stress.

“I believe the whale will die very soon now. And I would also like to raise the question: What is actually so bad about that?” he said.

“Yes, animals live, animals die. This animal is really, really very, very, very sick. And it has decided to seek rest.”

Scientists are not sure whether the whale can survive the journey. Some believe the whale had searched especially for shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest. The veterinarians of the private initiative, however, consider the animal fit for transport.