{"id":509312,"date":"2026-05-29T21:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/509312\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T21:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:02:07","slug":"danish-researchers-to-do-autopsy-on-celebrity-whale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/509312\/","title":{"rendered":"Danish researchers to do autopsy on celebrity whale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danish<\/a> researchers are planning to do an autopsy this weekend on a dead celebrity whale floating off a coastal island \u2013 unless it explodes first.<\/p>\n

Either outcome marks the final \u2013 potentially messy \u2013 act in a three-month drama that began when a humpback whale was beached near the city of L\u00fcbeck on Germany<\/a>\u2019s north coast.<\/p>\n

Dubbed \u201cTimmy\u201d by the Bild tabloid, the distressed animal became a social media sensation, animal welfare scandal and conspiracy theorist projection.<\/p>\n

After German state authorities gave up their rescue efforts, suggesting the distressed animal should be allowed die, the real psychodrama began.<\/p>\n

A colourful cast of characters \u2013 millionaires, self-appointed experts, sensation-seeking influencers and alternative healers \u2013 descended on Timmendorfer beach with competing ideas and goals. Using a modified pontoon they moved the animal back into open waters but released it into a busy maritime shipping lane.<\/p>\n

Within days a tracking device planted on the whale went silent and, two weeks after his release, the animal was found dead near the small island of Anholt, in a narrow strait between Denmark and Sweden.<\/p>\n

In the fortnight since, the decomposing whale carcass has been stranded in shallow waters, expanding visibly as it fills with putrefaction gases.<\/p>\n

On Friday Denmark\u2019s Environmental Protection Agency (MST) said it would finally end the drama.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whale will be pulled ashore this weekend,\u201d said Jane Hansen from the MST. She said an earlier plan \u2013 to pull the whale into deeper waters to bring into a nearby port of Grenaa had failed. \u201cThe weather was not favourable for transport,\u201d said Hansen, \u201cand the whale has moved and is now even closer to land. At the same time, the whale continues to be a major nuisance on the beach and must therefore be removed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the autopsy begins it is still possible \u2013 as is common in such cases \u2013 that the whale will explode, which is why the MST has warned people to remain behind a safety cordon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important this is respected, as there is still a risk of infection,\u201d added Hansen.<\/p>\n

With the clock ticking, two men from the original Timmy rescue team raced to Anholt with equipment and a final plan. In waders, they could be seen measuring the carcass, apparently in an attempt to prove that this whale was not Timmy.<\/p>\n

In death as in life, Timmy continues to fascinate, infuriate \u2013 and surprise. The animal, it turns out, was female and appears to have sustained visible injuries in recent weeks, possibly from the rescue effort.<\/p>\n

For three months the Bild tabloid had a whale of a time with the story, with one tearful reporter telling readers: \u201cI feel a connection to Timmy.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week it accepted the whale\u2019s demise and flipped the narrative. Citing international news reports on Germany\u2019s whale circus, it told readers: \u201cThe world is laughing at us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Danish researchers are planning to do an autopsy this weekend on a dead celebrity whale floating off a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[273],"tags":[382,18,6621,19,17,133,9312,461],"class_list":["post-509312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-denmark","tag-eire","tag-germany","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-sweden","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116659889525219477","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}