The biologist Robert Marc Lehmann: He is celebrated as a hero by many.Image: keystone
In the drama surrounding humpback whale Timmy, a mayor recently made serious allegations against the “whale whisperer” Robert Marc Lehmann. Now doubts arise about his self-portrayal.
April 10, 2026, 9:14 p.mApril 10, 2026, 9:14 p.m
Leon Pollok / t-online
According to experts, the humpback whale Timmy, stranded off the Baltic Sea, is dying. On Thursday, news of a small change in the whale’s position gave renewed hope, but the twelve-ton marine mammal will not survive. The experts agree on this. Several attempts to rescue the whale and guide it into the Baltic Sea had previously failed.
The biologist Robert Marc Lehmann, who became known as the “whale whisperer”, played an important role. He was celebrated in the media as a star and sought-after expert and gave many people hope. But recently the mayor of Timmendorfer Strand, Sven Partheil-Böhnke, made serious allegations against him. The whale first beached itself in front of the holiday resort at the end of March. Lehmann acted as an operations manager, even though other experts had accused him of making poor decisions, said Partheil-Böhnke. This also caused a promising rescue attempt to fail. Now further inconsistencies are coming to light, which at least raise doubts about the self-portrayal of the “Whale Whisperer”.
Humpback whale drama about Timmy: doubts about “Whale Whisperer”
On his website, Lehmann currently describes himself as a “graduated biologist”. But as archived versions of his website now show, Lehmann apparently changed this passage. As recently as October last year, he described himself as a “graduated marine biologist”.
A representative of the biology section of the University of Kiel, where Lehmann once studied, confirmed to t-online that there was no “marine biology” course there and still is not. The “Zoos.Media” portal reported corresponding inconsistencies at the beginning of the year, and a little later Lehmann apparently changed the entry on his website. However, it is correct that areas of focus can be chosen as part of the biology course, including marine biology.
Lehmann wrote his diploma thesis in 2009 on the topic “Growth of Astacus astacus L. (European noble crayfish) under artificial and natural feed”. The European noble crayfish lives in freshwater rivers, not in the sea.
Robert Marc Lehmann: Was he photographer of the year?
Lehmann also describes himself as a “multiple international award-winning photographer” and lists a number of awards on his website. This also includes the “National Geographic Photographer of the Year 2015” award. But this entry is also at least questionable: Australian James Smart actually won the prestigious title and came out on top from 13,000 entries, as can be read on the US magazine’s website. Smart photographed a tornado in the USA and not only secured the main prize, but also first place in the “Nature” category. The name Lehmann cannot be found among the winners of the “People” and “Places” categories either.
In fact, Lehmann won first prize in another, much smaller, Germany-limited photo competition run by National Geographic Germany in 2015. In the competition under the motto “Germany’s wild side”, Lehmann was able to impress with a photo of a gray seal off Heligoland. The editor-in-chief of National Geographic Germany, Claudia Eilers, told t-online that the information on Lehmann’s website was “at least misleading”. “We have the publisher check whether the biologist is allowed to use the specialist magazine’s logo,” says Eilers.
“Whale Whisperer” Lehmann is committed to environmental and animal protection
However, it is undisputed that Robert Marc Lehmann is an important voice on the subject of environmental and animal protection. According to the organization Wilderness International, 75,384 donations have already been received through the collaboration with Lehmann, which will be used to protect the rainforest. Millions of people follow his missions in the service of endangered wild animals on his YouTube channel. His Instagram account has been deactivated for days, and many fans followed him there too. There are some of his videos that are also about whales.
t-online asked Robert Marc Lehmann for a statement on Friday, but has not yet received any response.
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