Timmy the humpback whale has embarked on a critical journey toward the North Sea aboard a barge, following months of being stranded in shallow German waters. The operation is aimed at returning the mammal to its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.
First spotted near Germany's Baltic Sea coast on 3 March, Timmy's health deteriorated due to repeated strandings far from its usual environment. Earlier attempts to guide it into deeper waters were unsuccessful and widely livestreamed.
In the latest rescue effort, teams spent hours on Tuesday carefully pulling the whale onto a flooded barge using straps and a dredged channel, according to the German press agency dpa. The barge reached Fehmarn island in northern Germany, near Danish waters, early Wednesday, as reported by Bild. Its route will take it around Denmark's northern tip via the Skagerrak strait toward the North Sea.
Till Backhaus, environment minister of the federal state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern, where the whale had been stranded, expressed his emotional involvement, stating on Tuesday that he was “on the verge of jumping into the water to help the whale get through the last few meters.”
The minister approved the latest rescue attempt proposed by a private initiative, despite warnings from some scientists that the journey might be too stressful for the whale. The debate over whether to let the whale die peacefully or continue efforts to return it to the Atlantic has persisted for weeks. Activists have staged protests on the beach in Wismar, demanding the animal’s liberation, while others have supported new ideas for transporting the whale toward the ocean.
However, Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, told The Associated Press earlier this month that the rescue efforts have caused Timmy severe stress. “I believe the whale will die very soon now. And I would also like to raise the question: What is actually so bad about that?” he said. “Yes, animals live, animals die. This animal is really, really very, very, very sick. And it has decided to seek rest.”
Scientists remain uncertain whether the whale can survive the journey. Some believe the whale deliberately sought shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest. Nevertheless, veterinarians from the private initiative consider the animal fit for transport.
