Humpback whale released after spectacular rescue effort found dead off Denmark

BERLIN (AP) — A humpback whale found dead this week off a Danish island has been identified as the animal released two weeks ago in a dramatic and controversial rescue effort after repeatedly stranding itself off Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, authorities said Saturday.

The dead whale washed up Thursday off the small island of Anholt in the Kattegat, the wide strait between Denmark and Sweden that connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.

The site is south of the venue, about 70 kilometers from Skagen, at the northern tip of Denmark, where the whale, nicknamed “Timmy” and “Hope”, was released on May 2 after being transported to the North Sea in a barge.

“It can now be confirmed that the humpback whale stranded near Anholt is the same whale that previously stranded in Germany and was the subject of rescue attempts,” Jane Hansen, division head at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, said in an emailed statement.

She added that Saturday’s conditions allowed a Danish Nature Agency employee to locate and recover a tracking device that was still attached to the whale’s back, and that “the position and appearance of the device confirm that this is the same whale that had previously been observed and handled in German waters.”

The discovery ended weeks of efforts to return the mammal to its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

The whale was first spotted off the coast of Germany on March 3. It’s unclear why she swam into the Baltic Sea, which is far from her habitat and unsuitable for her, although some experts have said she may have wandered off while swimming after a school of herring or during migration.

At the end of March, he was rescued from the shallow waters of the German Baltic resort of Timmendorfer Strand using an excavator, but soon ran into trouble again nearby. Local media carried live broadcasts for several days, and news sites alerted readers to any developments in the whale’s situation.

In early April, experts said they had given up hope for the whale and expected it to die in the cove where it had become stranded at that time.

But the whale’s deteriorating condition sparked controversy that attracted private rescuers, regional authorities and the scientific community. Activists held protests calling for the animal to be saved, while influencers debated how best to help it.

Some scientists said further rescue efforts would themselves cause significant stress for the sick and exhausted animal.

The regional government of the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has allowed a private rescue initiative to continue its ambitious efforts to pull the whale onto a flooded barge.

The initiative confirmed that the number of the tracking device found on the dead animal matched the one that had been attached to the whale, German news agency dpa reported. It was noted that it was not possible to say conclusively what caused the whale’s death.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Environment Minister Till Backhaus said Saturday that the effort had given the whale “one last chance to regain its freedom and health” but it was unable to take it. He said it would be important to learn “the best lessons possible” from this episode.

Backhaus stressed in a statement that “accepting the rescue attempt is not a criticism of science” and added: “I believe it is absolutely humane to use even the smallest chance when a life is at stake.”

Authorities have not yet decided what will be done with the dead whale.

Hansen said “at this time there are no concrete plans to remove the whale from the area or conduct a necropsy, and this is not currently considered to pose a problem in the area.” But she said it’s important to stay away from it because it can carry diseases and for other reasons.