BERLIN (AP) — A barge carrying a humpback whale that's been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March has begun its journey toward the North Sea hundreds of kilometers (miles) away. If everything works out, the whale will eventually find its way home to the Atlantic Ocean.

Nicknamed Timmy by German media, the whale was first spotted swimming near Germany's Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean. The mammal's health has deteriorated as it became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters, and unsuccessful efforts to coax it back toward deeper seas have been livestreamed across the globe.

In the latest attempt to save it, rescuers spent hours Tuesday pulling the whale to a flooded barge using straps and a channel previously dredged to create a passage to the vessel, the Germany press agency dpa reported.

The barge reached the island of Fehmarn in northern Germany, close to Danish waters, early Wednesday, according to the German tabloid Bild.

The barge is expected to go around the northern tip of Denmark, via the strait of Skagerrak toward 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 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.