Buckelwal 'Timmy' nach wochenlangem Drama in Dänemark geborgen – Obduktion soll Todesursache klären

Recovery after weeks of waiting

The carcass of the humpback whale known as 'Timmy' or 'Hope' was successfully pulled ashore on the Danish island of Anholt on Saturday morning, after several previous recovery attempts had failed. A vehicle used a thick steel cable attached to the tail fin to drag the bloated body slowly onto the beach, a process that took between one and two hours depending on the source. The operation left a massive furrow in the sand.

Everything went according to plan and without problems. Now the whale is high and dry, and everything has been prepared so it can be necropsied and dismantled.

Authorities immediately cordoned off the carcass with red-and-white barrier tape and warned locals and bathers not to approach, citing both the risk of infection and the overwhelming stench. Eyewitnesses described the smell as "pretty numbing."

The 'Timmy bomb' must be defused

Before the necropsy can begin, experts face an urgent safety task: releasing the massive buildup of decomposition gases that have caused the carcass to bloat dangerously over more than two weeks in the sun. Biologist and whale expert Peter Teglberg Madsen warned of the explosion risk.

The danger of an explosion exists, and then kilos of flesh chunks fly through the air, which can kill you.

Madsen, who was on site for the recovery, explained that the team will use a sharp dissection knife on a long handle to slowly vent the gases from the whale's body. He described this as a routine procedure for his experienced team. A piece of the whale, specifically the baleen plates from the upper jaw, had already been discovered near the tail fin on Friday evening and was removed by workers using an excavator shovel.

Necropsy set for Thursday

The necropsy is scheduled for Thursday afternoon and is expected to last about six hours, according to Morten Abildstrøm of the Danish Nature Agency. The beach will be closed off during the examination. Veterinarians, officials, and experts will search the animal's intestines and esophagus for remnants of fishing nets and plastic.

In four of the last six stranded humpback whales in Denmark, fishing nets demonstrably played a role in their death.

For the other two cases, Madsen noted that nets were a possibility but could not be confirmed with certainty. The primary goal is to finally determine what killed the animal, a question that has been central to the public debate over whether the whale could have been saved.

A controversial rescue attempt

The whale had repeatedly made headlines since March, stranding multiple times along the German Baltic coast before finally settling near the island of Poel in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Against the recommendations of German experts, a privately funded initiative transported the animal in a metal container across the Danish Baltic Sea and released it into the North Sea. Days later, a dead whale matching Timmy's description was discovered off the Danish coast.

That was quite obviously a sick, weakened animal that could not be saved, and one should have simply left it in peace.

Madsen condemned the rescue operation as "pure animal cruelty," describing how a wild animal that had never lived in captivity was locked in a metal box for days, tossed around by waves, exposed to engine noise, and then simply tipped into the sea. He argued the experience must have been hellishly stressful and frightening for the animal, and urged the public to instead celebrate the increasing presence of humpback whales in the Baltic Sea.