dpa/ | In front of the Danish island of Anholt, a dead whale has been spotted. The animal lay about 75 meters off the coast and had presumably been dead for some time, reported the news agency Ritzau citing the environmental authority Miljøstyrelsen.
Initially it was unclear whether it was “Timmy,” the humpback whale that had first appeared off Timmendorfer Strand at the end of March and then lingered seemingly forever off the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, before being transported to the Skagerrak in early May amid a great deal of nationwide German excitement.
Morten Abildstrøm, who works for the environmental authority on Anholt, does not hold back from speculation. “Both the German and the Danish researchers I spoke with believe that it is very likely the humpback whale Timmy,” the once again highly excited Bild-newspaper quotes the Danish broadcaster DRTV, which in turn quotes Abildstrøm.
Earlier, the TV 2 Østjylland channel reported that there were currently no plans to salvage the whale. That could change if the carcass drifted closer to shore, it said further. During the day—likely around noon—a tissue sample from the dead animal was to be taken according to Danish media. It was reported that low tide would allow this to happen.
Backhaus Stands Ready
As the flagship media outlet of the Axel Springer Verlag, the environment ministry of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is reportedly once again electrified by the latest whale news. State Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD) had gone to great lengths for “Timmy”’s MV excursion, spent nights with him, and allegedly communicated with him.
Whether the minister will now immediately rush to the scene to look the whale in the eye again should be discussed and decided during the morning, a spokesman for Deutsche Presse-Agentur told on Friday morning.
The spokesman suggested that there would be no quick identification of the animal. “I assume the puzzle will not be solved in the morning.” Once Backhaus arrives, that, of course, could change quickly. The island of Anholt lies in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden. According to reports, only one ferry to the island operates each day.
Backhaus himself did not keep the public waiting long after speaking through his spokesman. “As soon as there is confirmed new information on the matter, we will inform the public immediately,” the SPD member assured on Friday in Schwerin. He said he was in close contact with the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Danish environmental authority.
“Due to the traffic situation on Anholt, we do not expect rapid findings—before reliable information is available, I will not engage in speculation,” the minister added.
The Timmy Mystery
“Timmy” had made headlines for weeks. Not least the Bild and the now unexpectedly uninterested-in-guesswork minister Backhaus supplied the whale-obsessed Germans with constant new material for the “Timmy Mystery.” The latest chapter of the saga was a days-long transport by a private rescue initiative into the North Sea. How exactly this ended remained unclear until now. Except for Backhaus. O-Ton on May 7: “The whale is alive.” German Angst? Not with the SPD minister.
Photos or videos of the release behind the northern tip of Denmark do not exist, according to the private Free-Timmy Initiative. It remained unclear also in what condition the weakened and boat-swayed animal was at that time.
Even about two weeks after the release, there are still no known data on where the animal is. A GPS transmitter reportedly sent no signals for locating it. There is no data at all anymore. Experts from animal welfare organizations had consistently assessed the long-term survival chances of the whale as very poor.
Before the release of the humpback whale on May 2, the initiative reportedly had a GPS transmitter attached to the dorsal fin, which should have continuously provided location data. Whether this actually occurred could not be verified by independent sources.
Tissue Sample to Be Taken
To determine whether the carcass now found off Denmark—much farther south than the release point—is indeed “Timmy,” photos could theoretically help: according to the initiative, a photo of the fluke—the whale’s large tail fin—was taken, which should be entered as a photo ID in relevant databases. However, there was no independent confirmation of this information either.
Besides a photo of the underside of the fluke, the animal welfare organization WDC says that distinctive features such as scar patterns on the skin could also aid in recognizing a whale. The Poeler whale belongs to the North Atlantic humpback whale population. “Every research team working with this population photographs the individuals,” it said. Over the years, thousands of ID photos have been collected.
