The dead humpback whale off Anholt island is the same creature that spent weeks stranded off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast – Image: Marcus Golejewski/dpa/picture alliance
Divers have confirmed that a dead humpback whale spotted off Denmark is the same creature that spent weeks beached off Germany’s Baltic coast.
The deceased humpback whale spotted off the Danish coast is the whale that came to be nicknamed “Timmy” as it spent more than a month stranded off the northern German coastline in the Baltic sea.
Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed the news on Saturday.
The likelihood that the marine mammal was the stricken humpback that was severely ailing by the time it was towed from the German coastline already seemed high.
Animal protection groups had warned that the whale’s long-term survival chances were slim.
How did Danish authorities confirm it was indeed the whale called Timmy?
An initial examination on Friday had not been able to spot a tracking device that had been attached to “Timmy” by rescuers because of the dead whale’s position in the water.
But on Saturday divers were able to take a picture of the animal’s dorsal fin.
“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,” Jane Hansen, division head at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement to the AFP news agency.
“The position and appearance of the device confirm that this is the same creature that had previously been observed and handled in German waters.”
A much-vaunted private barge rescue attempt at the end of April was considered a long shot from the outset, given the whale’s ailing condition – Image: Philip Dulian/dpa/picture alliance
How have German authorities reacted to the news of Timmy’s death?
The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania‘s environment minister, Till Backhaus, thanked Danish authorities for their assistance in identifying the marine mammal.
He also again defended his decision, defying the advice of some of his state’s expert marine life groups, to attempt the private rescue operation. He said it was sad that the whale had not been able to “seize its slim chance” at survival.
“I consider it completely human to make use of even the slimmest of chances, when a life is at stake. Whoever wishes to criticize that may do so,” Backhaus, who at the time had boasted of how the controversial rescue mission had “saved” the creature, said.
“It was always about weighing the balance between which option was the worst: Waiting for the certain death of the animal as it suffered, or giving him a last chance and exposing him to potential stress in the process,” Backhaus asserted.
DW.com/NAN 17-05-26
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