German minister defends ‘perfectly human’ decision to allow attempt to rescue whale Timmy | Whales
German officials defended their decision to allow a risky rescue attempt of a stranded whale; However, experts warned that this was “inadvisable” due to the animal being injured and unlikely to survive.
The legend of the whale known as Timmy has influenced Germany ever since the stranded humpback whale was seen stranded on the Timmendorfer beach in shallow waters close to the shore about two months ago.
The whale’s death was confirmed by Danish authorities on Saturday, two weeks after it was transported to the North Sea for rescue.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency said a whale was found dead on Friday near the tiny island of Anholt in the Kattegat, a wide strait between Denmark and Sweden, and confirmed on Saturday that the whale was Timmy.
The agency told people to stay away from the whale’s body because it could carry disease, but on Sunday Bild newspaper reported that two people took selfies next to the animal’s carcass.
Backhaus, the Social Democrat (SPD) environment minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, insisted he was right to allow the privately funded mission to continue, saying it was “completely human to seize even the slightest opportunity”.
In comments quoted by Bild, he added: “It was always weighing up which option was worst: waiting for the animal’s painful and certain death, or giving it one last chance and potentially exposing it to stress.”
German authorities initially gave up efforts to rescue the whale, saying they believed it could not be rescued from where it was stranded. But after a national outcry, two millionaires said they were willing to pay “whatever it takes” to release the creature.
The rescue attempt, believed to have cost around €1.5 million (£1.3 million), involved moving the whale away from beaches and onto a water-filled barge, which was towed by a tugboat from Wismar Bay, near Lübeck, Germany, to deeper waters off the Danish coast.
The mission was criticized by the International Whaling Commission as “inadvisable” because the male cub appeared “seriously endangered” and appeared unlikely to survive after release. Experts from the Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund on Germany’s Baltic coast also recommended that the whale should be left to die peacefully.
The young whale was described as lethargic, weak and covered in blister-like spots after spending weeks in low-salt water. It is thought that part of its mouth was caught in a fishing net.
Jane Hansen, department head of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, said on Saturday: “It can now be confirmed that the humpback whale stranded near Anholt is the same whale that was previously stranded in Germany and was the subject of rescue attempts.”
He said Saturday’s conditions allowed a Danish Nature Agency worker to locate and retrieve the tracking device strapped to the whale’s back, adding that “the location and appearance of the device confirm that it is the same whale that was previously observed and studied in German waters.”
Hansen said Danish authorities “have no concrete plans to remove the whale from the area or perform an autopsy, and it is not thought to cause a problem in the region at this time.”
