Animal

Museums Vie for Whale Remains: Interest in "Timmy's" Bones

For weeks, “Timmy,” the humpback whale that had beached itself multiple times, kept politicians and animal rights activists on the edge of their seats. (File photo)

Keystone

Following the dissection of the dead humpback whale in Denmark, several museums have expressed interest in bones from the animal known as “Timmy.” Museums from several countries want to display parts of the animal—and tell its story.

Keystone-SDA

14.06.2026, 04:21

“We have secured some bones, including a fin, pelvic bones, and vertebrae,” Daniel Klingberg Johansson, who manages the collection at the Natural History Museum in Copenhagen, told the German Press Agency. “We will not be exhibiting the bones ourselves, at least for the time being.” Instead, other museums in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands have expressed interest in the remains.

The aim, among other things, is to highlight different perspectives on the topics: “How do we view an animal?” and “How do we treat nature?” The handling of the humpback whale had drawn criticism from many experts in Denmark and Germany. After the weakened animal had stranded several times off the German coast, a private initiative had transported it to the North Sea on a cargo ship and released it there, against scientific advice. Shortly thereafter, the whale died and was later washed up dead on the beach of the Danish island of Anholt.

Whale bones could still provide insights even 200 years from now

A team of scientists and veterinarians had examined the carcass. Among other things, they determined that the whale was a female. “Because the whale was so large, it would have required significant investment to collect and preserve the entire skeleton,” said Johansson. That is why the experts secured only parts of it.

Stranded whales are also not uncommon in Denmark. The skeleton of a slightly smaller humpback whale is currently on display in a Danish museum. However, the new bones are still valuable to science, according to Johansson. Among other things, the researchers took three auditory bones to the museum. “This is very dense bone material from which DNA can still be extracted even after 200 years.”

While interested visitors may be able to view some of the whale’s bones in museums for a long time to come, the rest of the carcass has ended up in a factory. The remains are to be used, among other things, to produce biodiesel.