Copenhagen (dpa) -Experts were working on Friday to determine whether a dead whale found near the Danish island of Anholt is the same male humpback that had been stranded for weeks off Germany’s Baltic coast.
Danish authorities said the carcass, located about 75 metres offshore, could not yet be ruled out as the same animal.
The whale is believed to have been dead for some time, Danish news agency Ritzau reported, citing environment authorities. However, officials said there were no clear identifying features to immediately confirm its identity.
Experts believe the animal is a humpback whale of similar size to the one previously seen in distress in German waters. That whale, which drew widespread attention in Germany and was nicknamed Timmy, became stranded in shallow Baltic waters in late March before being moved by rescuers into the North Sea about a month later.
Morten Abildstrøm of Denmark’s Nature Agency (Naturstyrelsen), the government body responsible for nature and wildlife management, told dpa that a sample had been taken from the whale’s tail fluke and would be sent to Germany for analysis. He said he had inspected the carcass at close range during the procedure.
The carcass was also examined on Friday afternoon by a veterinarian from the private German rescue team that had transported Timmy into the North Sea. That inspection likewise did not yield a clear conclusion, Till Backhaus, the environment minister of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, said, adding that further examinations were planned on Sunday.
Scientists say distinctive skin patterns and any visible injuries could help determine whether it is the same animal.
Photographs could also prove key. The private rescue initiative that transported the whale towards the North Sea said it had taken images of the fluke, which could be used as photo identification in international databases.
Backhaus urged caution, saying it could take time to confirm the whale’s identity. He said his ministry had been in close contact overnight with Germany’s federal environment ministry and Danish authorities.
Long-running rescue saga
The whale’s plight garnered widespread media coverage in Germany and beyond.
In its final known chapter, a private rescue group spent several days transporting the weakened animal by barge into the North Sea. On May 2, the group said the whale had been released.
However, details of how the operation ended remain unclear, and questions — along with conspiracy theories — have persisted ever since.
The initiative said no photos or videos exist of the release, and the whale’s condition at the time remains uncertain.
There is also no reliable data on Timmy’s whereabouts. A GPS transmitter said by the team to have been attached to its dorsal fin has not sent any signals, and its installation has never been independently verified. Danish authorities said no transmitter was found on the carcass near Anholt.
Even before the rescue effort began, many marine experts had assessed the whale’s chances of long-term survival as very low.
The male humpback was first spotted in the Baltic Sea in early March and spent much of the following weeks in shallow waters.
It initially appeared in the port of Wismar before stranding on a sandbank near the small town of Timmendorfer Strand on March 23. The animal, named by well-wishers after the town, later freed itself via a dredged channel.
However, instead of heading into open waters, it returned towards the coast and the island of Poel, where it became stranded again, briefly freed itself, and then ran aground once more.
In mid-April, Backhaus allowed a privately funded rescue effort to proceed. The operation was backed by MediaMarkt co-founder Walter Gunz and entrepreneur Karin Walter-Mommert.