Source : Perth Now news
The carcass of a humpback whale, whose life and death captivated Germans for months as the mammal became repeatedly stranded in the Baltic Sea, has been dragged onto a Danish beach after two weeks of the body languishing in shallow waters.
The whale had gained the nickname “Timmy” as German media outlets sent push alerts and updated live blogs with the status of its health since it was first spotted off the German coast on March 3.
The whale was found dead on May 14, stranded just off the small island of Anholt in the Kattegat, the broad strait between Denmark and Sweden that connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea.
The whale’s death ended months of a spectacular and contentious rescue effort that culminated on May 2 when the mammal was transported toward the North Sea in a barge in a final effort to guide it back to its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.
The carcass will be examined next week to determine the cause of death, according to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
The post-mortem examination will begin on Thursday afternoon and is expected to take about six hours, it said.
“Because the animal has been lying in the sun for so long, it will smell terribly,” said whale researcher Peter Teglberg Madsen, who has been assisting with whale autopsies in Denmark for 25 years.
“It will be quite overwhelming if you’re not used to it.”
Danish news outlet News5 on Saturday published a livestream of the carcass being dragged onto the shoreline by a cable attached to a truck on the beach.
Danish officials have warned the public that the carcass – which is swollen with decomposition gases – is at risk of exploding.
Madsen said the main aim of the autopsy was to determine the cause of death “because the discussion has largely centred on whether the whale could have been saved or not”.
They will also look for evidence of fishing gear or plastic in the animal’s digestive system, as such factors have contributed to several humpback whale deaths in Danish waters in recent years.
It is not clear why the whale swam into the Baltic Sea, which is far from its habitat and it was not suited to, although some experts said it may have lost its way while swimming after a shoal of herring or during migration.
with DPA
