Dead Humpback Whale Carcass Towed Ashore on Danish Island of Anholt for Disposal

The carcass of a dead humpback whale was towed ashore on the Danish island of Anholt by an industrial winch. Timelapsed footage published by German news site News5 on Saturday showed the whale being pulled slowly onto the beach. The whale, originally about 12-15m in length, has increased in size due to gas build-up during decomposition.

There is concern the carcass could explode. Denmark's environment agency intends to conduct a post-mortem examination on Thursday. Veterinarians and researchers will travel to the island to take samples before the whale is cut into pieces and taken elsewhere for destruction, Morten Abildstrøm, a Danish Environmental Agency official on Anholt, told Jyllands Posten.

The whale was discovered off Anholt's shoreline earlier in May, two weeks after a private rescue mission ended in failure. The barge that carried the mammal away from Germany released it into the sea about 70km from the northern tip of Denmark. Several attempts were made to return the whale, nicknamed Timmy and Hope, to the North Sea after it became stuck in the Baltic Sea in March.

A final rescue attempt earlier in May was viewed as a long shot because the whale was already ailing and close to death. The whale had acquired damage to its skin from the lower salt content of the Baltic Sea. The rescue mission used inflatable cushions to pull the whale to the surface before dragging it back to the North Sea on a floating platform.

Timmy first became stranded in Lübeck Bay on Germany's northern coastline after apparently becoming entangled in netting. German environmental workers initially freed it from a sandbank by digging a channel so it could swim away. The whale then swam further east and became stuck in shallow waters off the island of Poel.

Exactly how it ended up on Anholt remains unclear. The urgency in disposing of the body stems from the whale now sitting on a popular beach, according to Abildstrøm. Officials previously attempted to move the carcass to the port of Grenaa on the Danish mainland but were unsuccessful due to poor weather conditions.