Helpers are still trying to free Timmy.Image: Screenshot live stream ZDFheute
Humpback whale Timmy has been making headlines for weeks. Helpers still want to free the animal and lead it into the sea. But opinions differ widely as to what is really best for Timmy.
April 21, 2026, 04:13April 21, 2026, 04:14
The drama surrounding the stranded humpback whale in the Baltic Sea, named Timmy, never ends. The helpers hope that the multi-ton animal will swim off again after a night’s rest and find its way out of the Kirchsee, a shallow bay on the island of Poel north of Wismar.
During the night, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister Till Backhaus (SPD), together with experts from the state fisheries supervision department, approached the animal to within around 500 meters. “The whale is lying calmly,” the minister told the German Press Agency afterwards.
After the animal initially swam free in the bay on Monday morning when the water level rose, it was stranded again two hours later in water that was waist-deep in many places. In the evening the whale could be seen moving towards the deep channel again – then it rested again.
If it succeeds in swimming again, the humpback whale must swim in the right direction after leaving the bay – to the northwest, towards the open sea. Several boats are therefore said to be blocking his way to the east, towards Wismar. The whale had already been seen in the harbor basin at the beginning of March.
Whale researchers against further rescue attempts
But what if the animal cannot free itself on its own? The Berlin whale researcher and marine biologist Fabian Ritter speaks out against further rescue attempts. “We must now finally realize that it is not possible for us to actively save this whale,” he said.
“We should just do him the biggest favor at the moment by letting him be.”
The expert is convinced that the whale always voluntarily assumes the resting position in the shallow water “because it wants to make life easier for itself”.
«He lies in the water, which supports him, which means he doesn’t crush himself with his own weight. He doesn’t have to make sure he comes to the surface. He doesn’t need to move when he’s in pain. And he can breathe all the time.”
Environmental groups such as Greenpeace have also recently been critical of further interventions to save the whale.
Water levels are falling again
But time is of the essence for Timmy: the water level should go down during the night and on Tuesday. According to marine biologist Boris Culik, this can have dire consequences for the whale, which weighs around twelve tons: “If it is now lying comfortably on its stomach on a sandbank with the blowhole sticking out of the top, everything is fine. But if there is 50 centimeters less water, then it develops an incredible weight, which then puts pressure on its internal organs. He has a very weak skeleton compared to us.” It is therefore high time to move him away from the job.
Whales breathe through one or two blowholes on their heads, which serve as modified nostrils because they are mammals with lungs. They do not breathe through their mouths, but expel air under high pressure when they surface.
What do you think is best for humpback whale Timmy?
(sda/dpa/con)