A humpback whale that underwent a rescue operation in Germany two weeks ago after beaching itself there has been found dead near a Danish island, officials said on May 16.
“It can now be confirmed that the stranded humpback whale near Anholt is the same whale that was previously stranded in Germany and was the subject of rescue attempts,” Jane Hansen, division head at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement to AFP.
The whale, dubbed “Timmy” in German media, was initially spotted stuck on sandbank on March 23. After several failed attempts it was finally put in a barge and released into the North Sea off Denmark on May 2.
The whale carcass was first spotted off the coast of the Danish island Anholt in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark on May 14 but authorities were at first unable to confirm it was the same whale.
“Conditions today made it possible for a local employee from the Danish Nature Agency to locate and retrieve an attached tracking device that was still fastened to the whale’s back,” said Hansen.
Hansen added that “at this time, there are no concrete plans to remove the whale from the area or to perform a necropsy, and it is not currently considered to pose a problem in the area.”
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency said that while it understood “the considerable public interest in this particular whale,” people should keep a safe distance and refrain from approaching the whale.
