Humpback Whale Timmy Dragged Onto Anholt Beach for Autopsy After Baltic Stranding

The carcass of the humpback whale nicknamed "Timmy" and "Hope" was dragged Saturday onto a Danish beach on Anholt after two weeks of the body languishing in shallow waters in the Baltic Sea region.

NPR reported the whale was first spotted off the German coast on March 3, then found dead on May 14 stranded just off Anholt in the Kattegat, the strait between Denmark and Sweden that connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.

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Devdiscourse said the whale was discovered off Anholt island on May 14 and that the Danish Environmental Protection Agency plans to conduct an autopsy next week to understand the circumstances around its death.

NPR added that the death ended months of a rescue effort that culminated May 2, when the mammal was transported toward the North Sea in a barge in a final effort to guide it back to its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Animal Reader said Timmy’s body would be moved to a beach on the Danish island of Anholt for an autopsy, with scientists expected to begin research later next week.

That same source reported authorities originally planned to tow the whale to the harbour city of Grenaa for examination, but rescue teams stopped the operation after concerns that the whale’s body could explode during the towing process.

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The Animal Reader explained that dead whales can build up large amounts of gas inside the stomach and intestines as decomposition begins, and it said teams attempted three times to attach ropes to the carcass before giving up.

South China Morning Post reported that the Danish environmental protection agency urged people not to approach the whale because there is a risk of infection, and it said the carcass is at risk of exploding due to decomposition gases.

NPR described how German media outlets sent push alerts and updated live blogs with the status of the whale’s health since it was first spotted off the German coast on March 3, making the animal’s life and death a months-long public story.

South China Morning Post said a live streaming by the News5 broadcaster showed a vehicle slowly dragging the bloated carcass out of the shallow water by a rope onto the beach on Saturday morning, leaving behind a deep furrow in the sand.

The outlet also quoted whale researcher Peter Teglberg Madsen, who said, "Because the animal has been lying in the sun for so long, it will smell terribly," and added, "It will be quite overwhelming if you’re not used to it."

Devdiscourse said the whale had captured public attention due to its repeated beaching in the Baltic Sea, and it noted that the rescue operation concluded unsuccessfully earlier this month.