Whale found dead near Danish island after German rescue operation

Wildlife experts had previous criticised the operation, saying it would only cause the animal more distress. Whale found dead in Denmark after private German rescue operation Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. The partially submerged whale shown stranded on a shallow sandbank in Lubeck Bay on 23 March Whale found dead near Danish island after German rescue operation A humpback whale rescued after beaching itself in Germany has been found dead near a Danish island. The whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on 23 March, off the island of Poel on Germany's Baltic coast. It swam free in early May after a water-filled barge carried it into the North Sea. The operation was privately funded by two German entrepreneurs and spurred intense public debate, with critics suggesting it would only cause the animal distress. A whale carcass was reportedly spotted on Thursday off the Danish island of Anholt, located between Denmark and Sweden. Authorities were not immediately able to confirm it was the same whale. In a statement the Danish Environmental Protection Agency said conditions on Saturday made it possible for the whale's identity to be verified, and its tracking device retrieved. The agency told AFP "there are no concrete plans to remove the whale from the area or to perform a necropsy, and it is not currently considered to pose a problem in the area". But it stressed that people should not approach the whale because it might carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans. There may also be a risk of explosion, it added, because of large volumes of internal gas caused by decomposition. The whale was coaxed into swimming into the barge which then took it out to sea People stand close to a stranded humpback whale in the Wismarer Bucht bay of the Baltic Sea off the island of Poel, northern Germany The whale, nicknamed "Timmy" or "Hope" by rescuers and German media, became stranded on Timmendorfer Beach in Lübeck Bay on 23 March. At first it freed itself but became stuck again several times. German authorities attempted a number of rescues before announcing they were giving up. Entrepreneurs Karin Walter-Mommert and Walter Gunz later funded a private rescue, fitting the whale with a tracking device and coaxing it onto a water-filled transport ship called Fortuna B. Map of northern Europe highlighting the Fortuna B ship’s route in red from the Baltic Sea near Poel, Germany, north through Danish waters past Jutland and into the Skagerrak toward the North Sea. Nearby locations Timmendorfer Strand and Poel are marked, with surrounding seas labelled Till Backhaus, the environment minister in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, hailed the operation as a success and an "example for Germany of what can be done". But wildlife groups have been sceptical about the whale's future after its release into the North Sea. The German Oceanographic Museum warned that the whale was at risk of drowning because it was so weak. Whale and Dolphin Conservation was especially downbeat, warning that the whale had no long-term chance of survival and had suffered skin damage because of the lack of salinity in the waters along Germany's Baltic Sea coast. Stranded whale ferried out of German waters in barge People next to a humpback whale stranded on a sandbank, Rescuers to use air cushions in latest effort to save stranded whale Rescuers abandon hope for whale stranded off German island Marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann attempts to help a beached whale lying in the waters of the Baltic Sea Whale swims for freedom after big German rescue effort on Baltic coast A court in Bremen has found the manufacturer of the classic Alpine Milk chocolate bar guilty of "shrinkflation". Some resorts enforce allocation rules from check-in to prevent people reserving loungers with towels in the holiday sunbed scramble. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil blamed the US president's "irresponsible war in Iran" for harming the Germany economy. Negotiations have progressed in recent months, according to multiple officials familiar, with the White House optimistic of reaching a deal. Ships have rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope since 2023 to avoid conflicts in the Middle East. The final operation to save the whale is being closely followed, after the failure of earlier attempts. The jawbones of a 76-tonne Rorqual that died in the Humber are back on public display in Grimsby. The government insists it is taking action to maker the seas safer.