What killed the humpback whale? On Thursday, "Timmy" will be autopsied in front of onlookers
The whale carcass has been lying off Anholt for weeks. An attempt to transport it failed.
Image: dpa
Preparations for the work on the whale carcass are underway.
Image: dpa
Attention, risk of infection! The authorities explain in German.
Image: dpa
The whale carcass has been lying off Anholt for weeks. An attempt to transport it failed.
Image: dpa
Preparations for the work on the whale carcass are underway.
Image: dpa
Attention, risk of infection! The authorities explain in German.
Image: dpa
Around three weeks ago, the dead humpback whale known as "Timmy" washed up off the Danish island of Anholt. Now he is being autopsied in front of onlookers on the beach. What can the experts find out?
04.06.2026, 06:12
04.06.2026, 08:49
SDA
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- The carcass of the humpback whale known as "Timmy" is to be autopsied today, Thursday, on the beach of the Danish island of Anholt.
- The carcass of the animal, which weighed several tons, has been lying off the vacation island for several weeks, bloated with putrefactive gases and mauled by seagulls.
- Since the humpback whale stranded several times off the German Baltic coast at the end of March, its fate has been a source of concern for many people.
For the humpback whale known as "Timmy", the final act is about to take place in front of onlookers: The whale's carcass is to be autopsied on the beach of Anholt Island. Interested parties can watch - at a safe distance. Public autopsies on animals are not uncommon in Denmark, but this case is likely to be special. The carcass of the animal, which weighed several tons, has been lying off the vacation island for several weeks, bloated with putrefactive gases and mauled by seagulls. And it's not just the team of vets and researchers who are now investigating the whale who are pondering the question: What killed the animal?
Ever since the humpback whale stranded several times off the German Baltic coast at the end of March, its fate has been on the minds of many people. Against the advice of experts, a private initiative had transported the animal by ship in a metal crate to the North Sea and released it. Some time after the criticized action, the whale washed up dead on Anholt. A salvage team pulled the animal onto the beach at the weekend. The autopsy should now also clarify with final certainty whether the whale with the young name is a female as suspected.
Even more important, however, is the question of the cause of death. And this could be difficult to clarify, Danish whale researcher Peter Teglberg Madsen told the German news agency DPA: "It could already be too late to detect internal bleeding, for example." The expert also believes that the question of whether the whale may have had water in its lungs may no longer be answered.
Did "Timmy" die from fishing nets?
What the autopsy team could discover, however: Traces of fishing nets in the stomach and intestines of the humpback whale. They could have contributed to the animal's death. One thing is clear: the experts will take a close look at the humpback whale. The autopsy is expected to take around six hours.
Once the examination is complete, the carcass will be taken off the island, according to a representative of the Danish Nature Agency. Locals very much want the whale to disappear. They fear it could scare off bathers on the popular beach.
What happens to the remains?
A company like Daka Denmark usually takes care of the recycling of whale carcasses. Whale remains are separated into three components in a factory, explained a spokesperson: "The water is purified and discharged into the fjord." All the fat - for example from the whale's blubber - is converted into biodiesel, he said. "And everything else - bones, tendons and skin - is processed into a kind of flour that ends up as biomass for incineration in a cement factory."
So far, the company has not received an order for the recycling of humpback whale "Timmy", the spokesman said. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency did not answer DPA's inquiry as to when and where the carcass would be removed from the island. Meanwhile, containers were already waiting on the beach on Wednesday.
