Experts have warned that the carcass of a young humpback whale which washed up on a beach after a failed rescue effort could explode.
The animal, affectionately often called Timmy, gained public attention after becoming stranded in shallow waters off Germany’s Baltic Beach on March 23.
Timmy was initially found trapped on a sandbank in Lübeck Bay unable to free himself. He eventually managed to flee but then became stranded several more times.
After a string of abandoned attempts in late April, two German entrepreneurs funded a significant operation to save lots of him, which cost an estimated £1.2million.
Timmy was successfully lured onto a water-filled transport barge before being released into deeper waters.
Enroll for all of the most recent stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
Nevertheless, the story resulted in tragedy. Timmy was found dead, 20 metres off the coast of the Danish island of Anholt, on May 15.
Danish authorities confirmed his identity through a tracking device attached in the course of the earlier rescue attempt.
Locals and tourists have now been warned to keep away from the carcass as gases produced during decomposition have caused the stays to bloat, raising fears it could eventually explode.
German whale researcher Fabian Ritter said the “situation is sort of inevitable”.
“The pressure inside is build up increasingly more, and in some unspecified time in the future the animal could explode with an enormous bang,” he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA).
Ritter was amongst several marine experts who criticised the costly rescue operation that moved Timmy from the Baltic Sea off Germany’s coast towards Danish waters in a mission estimated to have cost around £1.2 million.
The undertaking involved placing the whale inside a water-filled barge before towing it using a tugboat. He was also fitted with a tracker designed to observe each his location and vital signs, even though it was later revealed the device was faulty.
On the time, many experts argued the ocean animal was already too weak to survive, warning before the rescue that moving it could cause further stress and reduce its probabilities of survival.
Danish officials have now urged the general public to maintain their distance from the carcass resulting from the risks posed by each a possible explosion and infection. Beaches and coastal areas have also been restricted resulting from the danger of explosion.
Denmark’s environmental and nature agency and coastal rescue services are set to perform an operation to tow the whale further offshore before later transporting it to the port town of Grenaa for scientific evaluation.
Based on authorities, an explosion may very well be avoided by poking holes into the whale’s carcass or cutting it open completely.
MORE: Denmark’s quirky second city gives Copenhagen a run for its money
MORE: Queen of Denmark in hospital after suffering heart attack
MORE: Paediatrician charged with 130 cases of kid sex abuse in German hospital