Timmy the humpback whale is presumed to have died after being released into a shipping lane
Posted by CurdledCreamer@reddit | whales | View on Reddit | 37 comments
Timmy, a humpback whale who caught the world's attention after becoming stranded in German waters, is "highly likely" to have died after being released from a barge into deep waters.
Conscious_Slice1232@reddit
The comments on this post aged whale
RegisteredOnToilet@reddit
Na, goverment official already said its unlikely and dont forget - this statement is released by the people that said Timmy will die and adviced to let him die in the shallow sand where he was stuck and alive for 28+ days on the same place...
Noone is suprised they claim that.
Epistaxiophobia@reddit
You were wrong, he is dead. They found him :(
CurdledCreamer@reddit (OP)
Stranded whales internal organs can crush under their own weight too.
RegisteredOnToilet@reddit
Yes they do, but thats where they were wrong and made this stranding so special and not his death sentence - he was always 2/3 in water at the baltic sea because of the sandbanks he was stuck on, since it was also like muddy sand (schlick) he was stuck in there. He wasnt fully without water, it was always submerged enough to make him not take internal organ damage - thats why he didnt die after 30+ days beeing stuck
CurdledCreamer@reddit (OP)
K, let's just keep believing the billionaires because apparently money means more than the education of Marine Biologists and Scientists. /s
TeTrodoToxin4@reddit
Timmy was also refloated a few times before the attempt and kept beaching. There was an underlying cause that kept causing that. Whales that size don’t typically beach by accident.
It’s understandable to want to help, but the most humane thing would have to let him pass or euthanize. Instead he likely spent that time being hauled by the barge being stressed and then dumped into an area why a largeboat strike can happen.
Plus side he can become a whale fall there, but if he passed on shore, researchers could have determined the underlying cause for why he beached. (Ingesting nets, plastics, entanglement, boat strike, starvation, etc…). That information is very useful for conservation research because it provides a snapshot and most whale carcasses do not make it to shore. That information can also help shape policy to better protect them.
MongooseNervous5315@reddit
He was singing the whole time he was in the barge. He was happy. He was trapped in the Baltic Sea and couldn't find his way out. It wasn't an intentional strand like others.
Epistaxiophobia@reddit
He died :(
CurdledCreamer@reddit (OP)
Yes, all this information is available from the International Whaling Commission; which I've posted all their updates.
RegisteredOnToilet@reddit
Yea ok, i think ur not even informed about this stranding.
CurdledCreamer@reddit (OP)
A juvenile humpback, stranded in low salinity water for 38 days, towed by tail and barge, then dumped out in the open ocean, without any proper physical examination or re-entry plan is supposed to miraculously survive all that?
MongooseNervous5315@reddit
Nets were removed from his mouth. Skin improved And a furious will to live!!
RegisteredOnToilet@reddit
You are great in repeating the words of the experts that didnt visit the whale.
Experts that actually saw the Whale and checked him in the water are all saying the same - he has a chance, he is not near death, he has a big will to live and energy left. His skin was treated for days and got better confirmed by the vets at the whale, also its not a death senctence and the skin is supposed to heal in the more salty water of the Northsea.
You guys all know that, but still repeat the bs by the rescue attempt haters sadly - he would still lay there painfuly burning by the sun and needing month to die by starvation. What a terrible opinion to have for an poor animal that needed our help.
Epistaxiophobia@reddit
A whale stranded, its probably Timmy, so you were probably wrong. Ill keep you posted tho.
Gramposity@reddit
There are so many things wrong with this response, it is hard to count.
This statement was released by the professionals who do this work all the time. I can't understand why you continue to ignore and denigrate their experience and expertise.
I have worked in this field for over 30 years and know and have worked with some of these people. They are true professionals, who know what they are doing, and care about these animals so much that they have dedicated their lives to them. When they say that a stranded whale has very little chance of survival, I know it is coming from tens of thousands of combined hours of experience and the utmost highest standards of care for the animals they work with.
The folks who advised the two governments (Schleswig Holstein for Timmendorf Strand and the Mecklenburg Vorpommern for Poel) were either grandstanders themselves (Lehmann and Wallace), or did not have any experience with large whale strandings and entanglements (Bahr and Tönnies).
Myself and every other colleague in the field I have talked to find this whole "rescue" attempt a very sad and disturbing story. If you don't pay attention to actual expert advise and either go with sensationalism or your feelings, bad things will happen.
This whale definitely suffered unnecessarily, but it wasn't because people wanted to leave it to die in peace. Its because it was virtually tortured for a month only to die likely by drowning.
RegisteredOnToilet@reddit
So you agree with them, that it was the best for the whale to not bother him beeing stuck for weeks in pain unable to move?
As an expert yourself, you should now that this is NOT a case that can be solved by the textbook - it was a one of a kind and the first experts where simply wrong - and yes, i trust a RML more than the first expert round since he 100% exposed their real intenion
They had no plan how to guide, how to continue after the first stranding, and just wanted to get rid of the "problem" with no intention of further help. ofcourse they say he is dieing - which again, he was not for 30+ days stuck in mudsand!
nicxue97@reddit
No, he should have been euthanized
Gramposity@reddit
First, Lehmann is a scientific diver and documentarian. His "research" experience is in freshwater ecology, and even that is limited to early work he did for a thesis (Masters I believe). He has absolutely zero expertise in whale strandings, disentanglement, or marine mammal welfare. Why in the world would you listen to his opinion over people who have decades of experience in these subjects?
Second, given my background in the field, I know exactly what goes in to gaining that expertise. As I said, I have worked with some of these people and I know how smart and dedicated they are. Not only that, but I also fully understand what they based their decisions on. I know whale physiology and pathology and understand the entirety of what this animal was experiencing. So, yes, I fully concur with their assessment.
What are you basing your judgement on?
RegisteredOnToilet@reddit
Thanks for the open discussion btw. Even if we dont agree and i seem like an idiot discrediting experts to you, you still discuss with me. I am not expert unlike you, i still disagree and think my opinion on his fate is the right one.
and i have to make something i said earlier clear - i dont see RMLas the biggest Whale expert and i dislike his ego, but i can acknowladge that he knows a lot about Whales and was on divinh missions and also attended orca strandedrescue mission.
I can understand, if the Whale truly had no chance and they opted for some way of eutenaize or comfort in death - but they rejected even sun protection and where not truthful in their statements about his health and energy - they said he was badly wounded by a ship, which turned out to be a already healed and not deep scar, he was moving and trying to get away from his spot which could be seen by 24 hour livestream with nightvisiion which they denied and said he is complete unresponsive.
Things like that, clear lies you can discredit with your eyes even as non expert, make people distrust them in that matter...
And if they are right, i can still not believe that him beeing stuck for weeks or month until he dies in sticky mudsand was the best for him and the most harmless way to die... atleast somehow kill him.
The rescue attempt did not end how it was planned and it was by far not good - but atleast he got free, able to swim and i think he will survive it, if not... its still a better death than the one he had 100%. And its not like every Whale experts think that the rescue was wrong or he will die. Its now a matter of which one do you trust or believe more? I dont trust the ones, i saw telling lies and that where exposed in RMLs Video...
Gramposity@reddit
You're welcome for the discussion. I see it as my duty to engage as it helps to educate.
You say,
You really need to recognize that relative to the people from ITAW and the other stranding experts that weighed in at the first stranding (Niendorf/Timmendorfer Strand), RML knows absolutely nothing. Having been on a stranding or two is not the same as expertise in stranding response. He simply does not have the background to be trusted over the people that actually do have the experience and expertise. I'm really very, very interested to know why you continue to believe that RML was the real expert here.
It can't be the video. Lehmann's video is perfect evidence of his lack of expertise, need to grandstand, and lack of cooperation. He has no basis for forming an opinion on the whale's energy state. Just seeing a whale move does not mean it is sufficiently energetic. Please, please answer how he would know that the whale is healthy? How do you know from just looking that a whale is healthy? What are you basing that on?
Also - no real stranding response expert works a stranding with a camera pointed at themselves. I've absolutely never ever seen that in any stranding I've been part of.
TeTrodoToxin4@reddit
100%. The people who work in this field see this response this response as effectively torturing this whale to make themselves feel like they did something.
Also the people who work in wildlife and marine conservation are passionate about it, they have to be. It’s a stressful and competitive field that does not get a large amount funding. There are definitely easier fields to go into professionally.
A group of very vocal non-experts disagreeing with people who devote their professional life to a field is also how we ended up with people taking ivermectin and hydroxychloriquine to treat COVID.
Opal_Pie@reddit
100%! This is a symptom of uneducated people thinking they have an equivalent opinion as professionals and their educated assessment.
This poor whale was doomed from the beginning, and you have people cheering on his continued torture. They aren't even coming from an empathetic position at this point. They so want researchers to be wrong just for the sake of being wrong. Something I will never understand.
HuntingDog_Skaface@reddit
This is just bullshit.
Wild-Kitchen@reddit
This is fascinating because I saw a facebook post this morning claiming Timmy's tracker finally started working and proves he is alive and heading in the right direction. So much misinformation floating around
SnooRobots1169@reddit
This is false. Notice how they do not share it. They could even wait 24hrs and share the day before and that doesn’t give away his position. They are likely lying about even used a tracker
CurdledCreamer@reddit (OP)
there is no GPS tracker that, also, records vital signs lol
MsBuzzkillington83@reddit
"I saw a Facebook post this morning.."
The only sources saying anything like that are Facebook and Instagram. Do u notice anything about those sources vs a credible news agency?
FateOfLove@reddit
It ain't 100%. At least there's a chance. Had they done nothing he'd be dead.
MongooseNervous5315@reddit
Not true. He's alive and thriving
SnooRobots1169@reddit
I have a few issues with this article, now I do think he is dead. This article doesn’t list any sources saying this. This article is speculative and kinda just rambles. I do appreciate it highlights all the lies and discrepancies in their story. Regardless, another animal has suffered in the hands of Whale Sanctuary Project.
Admirable_Ganache_97@reddit
I've never heard about other sufferings.😮 What instances are you referring to?
SnooRobots1169@reddit
Being pulled by the tail, dragged out of the barge by the tail, panicked and swam back in. Being crushed by his own weight, constantly harassed by people. Most of that was the whale sanctuary project
BlitzNeko@reddit
Like releasing a Kitten unto a busy highway. Why?
overdriveandreverb@reddit
a whole lot of speculation. considering that the whale would have died otherwise and that no such undertaking had been done before. but I find the lack of reliable data concerning considering that we should learn from timmys case.
CurdledCreamer@reddit (OP)
IWC Strandings Expert Panel Issues Statement on the Humpback Whale Stranded off Poel Island, Germany 7 Apr 2026
Further Statement of the IWC Strandings Expert Panel: Humpback Whale Stranding off Poel Island, Baltic Sea, Germany 21 Apr 2026
Third Statement of the IWC Strandings Expert Panel: Humpback Whale Stranding off Poel Island, Baltic Sea, Germany 28 Apr 2026
Fourth Statement of the IWC Strandings Expert Panel: Humpback Whale Stranding off Poel Island, Baltic Sea, Germany 2 May 2026
4thSwordofPosadism@reddit
Hate humans. Simple as.