Divers have confirmed that a dead humpback whale spotted off Denmark is the same creature that spent weeks beached off Germany's Baltic coast. It comes two weeks after a contentious rescue operation.
Denmark 's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed the news on Saturday.
The likelihood that the whale was the stricken humpback that was severely ailing by the time it was towed from the German coastline already seemed high.
Animal protection groups had warned that the whale's long-term survival chances were slim.
How did Danish authorities confirm it was indeed Timmy?
An initial examination on Friday had not been able to spot a tracking device that had been attached to "Timmy" by rescuers because of the dead whale's position in the water.
But on Saturday divers were able to take a picture of the animal's dorsal fin.
"Conditions today made it possible for a local employee from the Danish Nature Agency to locate and retrieve an attached tracking device that was still fastened to the whale's back," Jane Hansen, division head at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement to the AFP news agency.
"The position and appearance of the device confirm that this is the same whale that had previously been observed and handled in German waters." Danish authorities said there were currently no plans to remove the carcass.
Whale rescue hopes rise after weeks of doubt To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video What happened to Timmy?
The 12-meter (39-foot) whale, dubbed "Timmy" by the German press, initially became stranded on a sandbank on Germany's Baltic Sea coast on March 23.
After a number of failed attempts to free it from Wismar Bay, including digging channels and trying to guide it back to deeper water, authorities announced they were giving up.
But then two entrepreneurs, Karin Walter-Mommert and Walter Gunz, stepped in to finance a private rescue. Their operation attracted criticism from some marine experts who said it was unlikely to succeed and would cause the severely weakened whale more distress.
A whale carcass was then spotted off Denmark's Anholt island on May 14.
The case has received national media coverage in Germany, where it has captivated the public for weeks.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency said that while it understood "the considerable public interest in this particular whale," people should keep a safe distance and refrain from approaching it.
"This is because the whale may carry diseases that can also be transmitted to humans, and there may also be a risk of explosion," as decomposition creates large volumes of gases.
How have German authorities reacted to the news of Timmy's death?
The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 's environment minister, Till Backhaus, thanked Danish authorities for their assistance in identifying the whale.
He also again defended his decision, defying the advice of some of his state's expert marine life groups, to allow the private rescue attempt. He said it was sad that the whale had not been able to "seize its slim chance" at survival.
"I consider it completely human to make use of even the slimmest of chances, when a life is at stake. Whoever wishes to criticize that may do so," Backhaus, who at the time had boasted of how the controversial rescue mission had "saved" the creature, said.
"It was always about weighing the balance between which option was the worst: Waiting for the certain death of the animal as it suffered, or giving him a last chance and exposing him to potential stress in the process," Backhaus asserted.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko Advertisement
