A humpback whale rescued after beaching itself in Germany has been found dead near a Danish island. The whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on 23 March, off the island of Poel on Germany's Baltic coast. It swam free in early May after a water-filled barge carried it into the North Sea.
The operation was privately funded by two German entrepreneurs and spurred intense public debate, with critics suggesting it would only cause the animal distress. A whale carcass was reportedly spotted on Thursday off the Danish island of Anholt, located between Denmark and Sweden. Authorities were not immediately able to confirm it was the same whale. In a statement, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency indicated that conditions on Saturday allowed for the whale's identity to be verified, and its tracking device retrieved.
The agency informed that there are no concrete plans to remove the whale from the area or perform a necropsy, stating that it does not currently pose a problem in the area. However, they emphasized that the public should not approach the whale, as it may carry diseases transmissible to humans, and there is a risk of explosion due to internal gas accumulation from decomposition.
The whale, nicknamed 'Timmy' or 'Hope' by rescuers and German media, became stranded on Timmendorfer Beach in Lübeck Bay on 23 March. At first, it freed itself but became stuck again several times. German authorities attempted multiple rescues before announcing they were giving up. Entrepreneurs Karin Walter-Mommert and Walter Gunz later funded a private rescue, fitting the whale with a tracking device and coaxing it onto a water-filled transport ship named Fortuna B.
Till Backhaus, the environment minister in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, hailed the operation as a success and an example of what can be done. However, wildlife groups were skeptical about the whale's future after its release into the North Sea, warning that the whale was at risk of drowning due to weakness and had suffered skin damage from the lack of salinity along Germany's Baltic Sea coast.
The operation was privately funded by two German entrepreneurs and spurred intense public debate, with critics suggesting it would only cause the animal distress. A whale carcass was reportedly spotted on Thursday off the Danish island of Anholt, located between Denmark and Sweden. Authorities were not immediately able to confirm it was the same whale. In a statement, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency indicated that conditions on Saturday allowed for the whale's identity to be verified, and its tracking device retrieved.
The agency informed that there are no concrete plans to remove the whale from the area or perform a necropsy, stating that it does not currently pose a problem in the area. However, they emphasized that the public should not approach the whale, as it may carry diseases transmissible to humans, and there is a risk of explosion due to internal gas accumulation from decomposition.
The whale, nicknamed 'Timmy' or 'Hope' by rescuers and German media, became stranded on Timmendorfer Beach in Lübeck Bay on 23 March. At first, it freed itself but became stuck again several times. German authorities attempted multiple rescues before announcing they were giving up. Entrepreneurs Karin Walter-Mommert and Walter Gunz later funded a private rescue, fitting the whale with a tracking device and coaxing it onto a water-filled transport ship named Fortuna B.
Till Backhaus, the environment minister in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, hailed the operation as a success and an example of what can be done. However, wildlife groups were skeptical about the whale's future after its release into the North Sea, warning that the whale was at risk of drowning due to weakness and had suffered skin damage from the lack of salinity along Germany's Baltic Sea coast.
