Tracker Failure Follows €1.5m Timmy Humpback Whale Rescue

The tracker fitted to the humpback whale Timmy was not working after the animal was released into waters off Denmark. Three days later, the whale’s whereabouts and health remained unknown after a privately funded rescue that cost about €1.5m.

Timmy’s release off Denmark

The whale was moved in a water-holding barge pulled by a tugboat to waters off the coast of Denmark after being stranded off Germany’s Baltic coast. Karin Walter-Mommert, who funded part of the rescue initiative, told German media on Tuesday that the tracker was not working.

Fabian Ritter said, “If it turns out that the device doesn’t yield any information, it would be an all-round catastrophe, for the whale and the rescue team.” Ritter also described the prospect as “an all-round catastrophe.”

Germany’s stranded whale

The humpback whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on 23 March near Lübeck on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast. After that, the whale freed itself and then became stuck again several times near Wismar, as its health deteriorated in shallow water.

Unsuccessful efforts to coax the whale toward deeper seas were livestreamed across the globe, while Germany’s Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania environment minister approved the rescue attempt. The whale was nicknamed Timmy after one of the sandbanks it was stranded on.

Peter Madsen called the rescue “very strange and unprofessional,” and Danish authorities said in advance that they would make no attempt to rescue the whale if it was found in difficulty. The whale was last photographed swimming in the strait of Skagerrak.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s review

The environment ministry was still waiting to receive data from the private initiative and information about the animal’s condition. That leaves the rescue effort in a narrow place: a high-cost operation, a missing signal, and no usable readout on whether Timmy survived the release.