Danish researchers are planning to do an autopsy this weekend on a dead celebrity whale floating off a coastal island – unless it explodes first.
Either outcome marks the final – potentially messy – act in a three-month drama that began when a humpback whale was beached near the city of Lübeck on Germany’s north coast.
Dubbed “Timmy” by the Bild tabloid, the distressed animal became a social media sensation, animal welfare scandal and conspiracy theorist projection.
After German state authorities gave up their rescue efforts, suggesting the distressed animal should be allowed die, the real psychodrama began.
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A colourful cast of characters – millionaires, self-appointed experts, sensation-seeking influencers and alternative healers – 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.
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.
In the fortnight since, the decomposing whale carcass has been stranded in shallow waters, expanding visibly as it fills with putrefaction gases.
On Friday Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency (MST) said it would finally end the drama.
“The whale will be pulled ashore this weekend,” said Jane Hansen from the MST. She said an earlier plan – to pull the whale into deeper waters to bring into a nearby port of Grenaa had failed. “The weather was not favourable for transport,” said Hansen, “and 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.”
Before the autopsy begins it is still possible – as is common in such cases – that the whale will explode, which is why the MST has warned people to remain behind a safety cordon.
“It is important this is respected, as there is still a risk of infection,” added Hansen.
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.
In death as in life, Timmy continues to fascinate, infuriate – and surprise. The animal, it turns out, was female and appears to have sustained visible injuries in recent weeks, possibly from the rescue effort.
For three months the Bild tabloid had a whale of a time with the story, with one tearful reporter telling readers: “I feel a connection to Timmy.”
This week it accepted the whale’s demise and flipped the narrative. Citing international news reports on Germany’s whale circus, it told readers: “The world is laughing at us.”
