Rescuers trying to save a stranded humpback whale off Germany’s Baltic coast have coaxed the mammal on to a barge in the hope the vessel can take it to safety in deeper waters.

Amid intense media attention, the high-stakes rescue mission, funded by two multi-millionaires, is being watched by hundreds of onlookers, many of whom are camped nearby to monitor the spectacle.

Cheers went up on Tuesday afternoon after the whale, named “Timmy” after the Timmerdorfer Strand where it beached on a sand bank more than a month ago, was hauled down a channel in the sandy seabed and then swam of its own accord into the barge.

“ Walelujah!…