"I was sitting in the office with my colleague Nazmi when the clouds suddenly broke and we decided to enjoy a few rays of sunshine outside," he explains. Suddenly, the whale appeared just a few metres away from them, reports Vázquez. "It really was like being in a film," recalls the 46-year-old, "we were completely stunned."
First he had to process what he had seen. However, the two colleagues quickly agreed that it was not the dolphin "Delle" that was seen in Lübeck last summer. "I immediately rushed in and hoped to be able to film the whale," explains Vázquez. The whale swam back and forth between the old lighthouse and the car ferry a few times before diving down again. "It hasn't surfaced here since," reports the petrol station employee.
There was great interest in the humpback whale
Vázquez himself had not expected the video of the whale sighting to attract so much attention. Within a very short time, over 25,000 people had seen the clip on Instagram. The video also attracted interest from media organisations such as NDR and RTL Nord.
Although no official scientific investigations were carried out on site, a number of experts commented on the sighting on social media. According to the comments, the animal is clearly a humpback whale. However, the reasons for its appearance in the Baltic Sea remain unclear. Speculation ranges from foraging to a possible disorientation of the animal.
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Encounter was a happy coincidence
"It is clearly the largest creature I have ever seen," emphasises eyewitness Vázquez. The fact that the humpback whale appeared while he was on site was "pure coincidence". He was only working in Travemünde on Tuesday and Thursday this week, he says. Vázquez explains: "As far as the petrol station is concerned, I'm a complete career changer. We're just taking a bit of a turn here." He goes on to explain that he is actually responsible for marketing and advertising at H & R Mineralölhandelsgesellschaft mbH, which now manages the petrol station on Priwall. "From July, we also want to offer fish sandwiches, potato salad, sausages and drinks here with the "Travesnack"," says Vázquez. Until then, there will only be various fuels and duty-free diesel for official ships. "For Saturday, for example, the fire brigade has announced that they will be coming by and filling up with 5,000 litres of diesel," says Vázquez happily.
