{"id":428592,"date":"2026-05-02T11:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T11:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/428592\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T11:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T11:16:09","slug":"humpback-whale-timmy-released-in-north-sea-after-weeks-stranded-off-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/428592\/","title":{"rendered":"Humpback whale \u2018Timmy\u2019 released in North Sea after weeks stranded off Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A rescue team has released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said.<\/p>\n<p>Nicknamed Timmy by German media, the whale was spotted swimming near Germany\u2019s Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>The mammal\u2019s health deteriorated as it became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters near the coastal city of Wismar, and unsuccessful efforts to coax it toward deeper seas were live-streamed across the globe.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"427\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/humpback-whale-timmy-released-in-north-sea-after-weeks-stranded-off-germany.jpg\" alt=\"Germany Whale Rescue\" data-title=\"Germany Whale Rescue\" data-copyright-holder=\"AP\" data-copyright-notice=\"(c) Copyright 2026, dpa (www.dpa.de). Alle Rechte vorbehalten\" data-credit=\"Philip Dulian\" data-usage-terms=\"This content is intended for editorial use only. For other uses, additional clearances may be required. No Use in Germany\"\/>The humpback whale recovered from a shallow bay off Wismar (Philip Dulian\/dpa via AP)\n<\/p>\n<p>Mecklenburg Vorpommern\u2019s environment minister gave the green light for the 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 animal.<\/p>\n<p>Jens Schwarck, a member of the private initiative who was on site, said the whale was released around 9am local time, according to the German news agency dpa.<\/p>\n<p>The agency reported that the whale was released about 45 miles from the coast of Skagen, Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>Drone footage showed a whale swimming and spouting water near the barge, though it was not immediately confirmed that the animal was indeed Timmy.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"399\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1777720569_970_humpback-whale-timmy-released-in-north-sea-after-weeks-stranded-off-germany.jpg\" alt=\"Germany Whale Rescue\" data-title=\"Germany Whale Rescue\" data-copyright-holder=\"AP\" data-copyright-notice=\"\" data-credit=\"Stefan Sauer\" data-usage-terms=\"This content is intended for editorial use only. For other uses, additional clearances may be required. No Use in Germany\"\/>The humpback whale stranded in the Baltic Sea (Stefan Sauer\/dpa via AP)\n<\/p>\n<p>A debate emerged about whether to let the whale die in peace or try to assist its return to the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Activists staged protests on the beach in Wismar calling for its liberation, while others have supported new ideas about how the whale could be transported.<\/p>\n<p>Some scientists believe the whale had searched for shallow waters because it was weak and needed rest. The veterinarians of the private initiative, however, considered the animal fit for transport.<\/p>\n<p>Before the release, a GPS transmitter was reportedly attached to track the whale\u2019s future location, according to dpa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rescue team has released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":["post-428592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}