Denmark performs necropsy on ‘Timmy’ the whale

The humpback whale, nicknamed Timmy, near the island of Poel, Germany, Friday, April 17, 2026. (Jens Büttner/dpa via AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Scientists will on Thursday conduct an autopsy on “Timmy,” the humpback whale whose ordeal to return to the open seas captured Germany’s hearts and sparked a media frenzy, Danish officials said.

The whale, which had struggled since beaching near the German coast, died after being transported into the North Sea off Denmark aboard a barge and released on May 2 in a last-ditch rescue operation.

“The necropsy is expected to take place this afternoon as planned,” the Danish Environmental Protection Agency told AFP in an email.

The results of the examination are to be released later, it added.

“Timmy,” as he was dubbed in Germany, was moved on Saturday to the shore of the island of Anholt, near where the mammal had been found.

After Timmy was first spotted stricken on a sandbank on March 23, the marine mammal’s travails gripped Germany for weeks, with media flocking to the Baltic coast to follow the various attempts to get the whale swimming again.

But after several failed attempts, some experts criticised the continued rescues -- privately financed by wealthy entrepreneurs -- as pointless.