Humpback Whale Named Timmy Died After Rescue Attempt in German Waters

A humpback whale found stranded on a sandbank in German waters in March died days after a rescue attempt that moved it by barge to the sea off Denmark. The whale, named Timmy, was found in poor health and tangled in fishing gear with cuts from a ship strike. Early rescue attempts failed and the animal became stranded multiple times over several weeks.

Background on the Stranding An excavator and dredger freed Timmy at least twice.

The German Oceanographic Museum described the situation as uncharted territory because a large whale had stranded repeatedly under constant observation. Timmy was in low-salinity water that likely caused skin deterioration. Its body weight likely compressed internal organs and it was vulnerable to sunburn.

5 million to place Timmy on a water-filled barge that was towed by tugboat and released on May 2. The whale was found dead shortly afterward. Stranding experts from the International Whaling Committee described the rescue as inadvisable on grounds of animal welfare and human safety.

Vocalisations were heard during the barge operation, though their meaning remains unknown. The rescue effort cost far less than the approximately A$28 million spent on a similar attempt to release a captive orca named Keiko in the 1990s. Keiko failed to adapt to the wild and died the following year.