Humpback whale Timmy will most likely die.Image: keystone
April 8, 2026, 3:53 p.mApril 8, 2026, 3:53 p.m
Humpback whale Timmy will die on the sandbank off the island of Poel in the Baltic Sea. Experts now agree on this. He was too weak to be rescued or even to swim free. But it could still be a few days before the whale actually dies. The question therefore remains whether Timmy could not be rescued to spare him further pain.
“The problem is that there is no reliable solution,” he says Picture writes. In theory there are three options for killing, but animal rights activists do not consider these to be appropriate. The probability is too high that Timmy will suffer even more as a result of the attempted euthanasia. Marine biologist Thilo Maack explains this to “Bild”.
These three variants were examined:
- The whale could be shot. However, the probability that this will fail is high. “A targeted shot is hardly possible,” says marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann to the newspaper. Even if the shot were successful, a quick death is not guaranteed.
- The whale could be euthanized using a large amount of a euthanasia agent, says Maack. But that is also unsafe and no more humane than letting the whale die in peace. The spraying could cause a lot of stress for the whale, which could put the people doing it in danger.
- There is also a lot of discussion about explosions. Explosive charges would be attached to the animal’s head, which has already been used in Australia and New Zealand. The explosives would be detonated remotely. However, the explosion sometimes took several attempts, which is why Lehmann described this method to Bild as “shitty”. Maack also says: “In the past, whales lived on for a long time if explosion attempts failed and died in agony.”
Even if the animal rights activists decide on one of the options, the State Office for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Geology in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania must grant permission to kill the whale. But it looks like that won’t happen. It could be days before Timmy dies. (hkl)