Timmy the stranded whale is finally on his way home thanks to entrepreneur-funded rescue
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Fans can track Timmy's journey in real time.
An animal rescue story that has captivated readers worldwide could be on the brink of a happy ending.
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A barge carrying a humpback whale that's been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March has begun its journey toward the North Sea hundreds of kilometers away.
If everything works out, the whale will eventually find its way home to the Atlantic Ocean.
The humpback whale, affectionately named Timmy by German media, has been stranded in shallow Baltic Sea waters since 3 March.
During repeated rescue efforts, it became clear that Timmy was in ill health, with some activists calling for him to be left to die in peace.
Efforts to guide him back into deeper waters were funded by public money. Until two German entrepreneurs stepped in with funds to boost the rescue efforts.
Related"I can't even say how happy I am," Karin Walter-Mommert, one of the entrepreneurs financing the rescue bid, told the Bild newspaper.
"You could see that the whale fought and wanted to live. Knowing he's now in the barge is simply wonderful and shows that the fight for Timmy was worth it."
Now, Timmy is on a flooded barge on a journey to the North Sea that will take three days. Scientists are unsure whether the whale can survive the journey. Some believe the whale had searched especially for shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest. The veterinarians of the private initiative, however, consider the animal fit for transport.
RelatedHow to track Timmy the whale's journey
A tugboat, named Robin Hood, began pulling the barge with the whale into the Baltic Sea on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, the Fortuna B took over and is currently rounding the island of Fehmarn in northern Germany, close to Danish waters.
The tugboat’s position can be tracked live on Vesselfinder.com.
The convoy has to cover about 400 kilometers to reach the North Sea. The journey will take several days.
The barge is expected to go around the northern tip of Denmark, via the strait of Skagerrak toward the North Sea.
Rescue efforts have been livestreamed across the globe
Timmy became beached on a sandbank near the German city of Lübeck, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean. The mammal's health deteriorated as it became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters, and unsuccessful efforts to coax it back toward deeper seas were livestreamed across the globe.
Several attempts were initially made to free the sea mammal, including by digging channels for it to swim down, but all failed.
At the start of April, officials gave up on the animal, saying they believed it could not be saved.
But this triggered an outcry and authorities were persuaded to let the entrepreneurs come up with a rescue plan.
RelatedA fierce debate about what's right for the whale
Till Backhaus, environment minister of the federal state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern where the whale had been stranded, said on Tuesday he was “on the verge of jumping into the water to help the whale get through the last few metres."
The minister gave the green light for the latest attempt to save the whale, proposed by a private initiative, despite some warnings from the scientific community that it may be too much for the whale.
The debate about whether the best way to help the animal is to let it die in peace or keep trying to assist its return to the Atlantic Ocean has been ongoing for weeks. Activists have staged protests on the beach in Wismar calling for the animal’s liberation, while others have supported new ideas about how the whale could be transported toward the ocean.
But Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, told the The Associated Press earlier this month that efforts to save Timmy have caused the animal severe stress.
“I believe the whale will die very soon now. And I would also like to raise the question: What is actually so bad about that?” he said. “Yes, animals live, animals die. This animal is really, really very, very, very sick. And it has decided to seek rest.”
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