Efforts to save humpback whale ‘Timmy’ just took a risky turn

Major humpback whale rescue effort attempts to achieve something extraordinary

Rescuers had called off efforts to save “Timmy,” a humpback whale that stranded in the Baltic Sea last month. But now a final attempt to move the creature by barge is underway.

By KR Callaway edited by Claire Cameron

For more than a month, a humpback whale nicknamed Timmy has been stranded in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Germany. In early April, rescuers called off efforts to save the creature, which had repeatedly become stuck on the sandbars and appeared to be in poor physical condition. But now, in a last-ditch attempt to save the whale, a team has loaded Timmy onto a specialist barge to essentially drag him to the North Sea. The International Whaling Commission, a global body that manages whale conservation, called the effort “inadvisable.” It’s not yet known for sure whether Timmy will survive, but some experts hope this story will inspire people to do more to protect whales.

“I suspect it will take a lot of effort and the whale probably won’t survive,” says Matthew Savoca, a marine biologist at the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation. “But it’s cool to see people come together around a story centered around a non-human animal.”

Timmy’s saga began on March 3, when the whale was first sighted off the coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea. Although humpback whales are found in all of the world’s oceans, they generally avoid shallow, low-salinity waters like those in the Baltic. Researchers therefore suspect that the whale stranded due to illness, injury or disorientation.

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Initial rescue attempts failed and Timmy was expected to die as he was stranded off the coast of a small Baltic island. Two German millionaires However, he intervened to support the last attempt to save Timmy. On Tuesday, divers loaded the whale onto a flooded barge that will transport it to the North Sea.

The whale was likely in poor health when it first swam into the Baltic almost two months ago. And since its stranding, the animal would have been breathing irregularly and barely moving.

The International Whaling Commission advocated against the recent rescue attempt, which she said was “well-intentioned” but could cause more stress to an already sick animal and “little ultimate benefit.” Yet the whale’s plight has captured imaginations, even inspiring protests in Germany to urge authorities not to abandon the animal.

“Something like this has never happened before in Germany, where a rescue operation of this type was carried out,” Till Backhaus, a local official, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “And it was an experiment, and the experiment was a success, and it’s wonderful.”

Savoca, however, believes it is likely that the whale will die shortly after arriving in the North Sea. But the experience of gathering around a whale could make people focus on other issues affecting whales, like injuries from fishing gear and ship strikes.

“If we’re actually willing to devote this much resources, power, funding and fuel to make this happen for this animal, imagine the kind of conservation impact we can have on entire populations,” Savoca says.