The whale was released into the sea about 70 kilometers from the northernmost Danish city of Skagen, writes Bild newspaper. Information about her condition at the time and the exact process of her release were not known, and neither photos nor videos were publicly available.
Before releasing Timmy, the rescuers announced that the GPS data would not be published. According to the original information, only the initiators of the rescue mission and the Ministry of the Environment of Přední Pomerania-Mecklenburg should have had them available.
The lawyer of the private initiative, Constanze von der Medenová, claimed that the information about the data is so limited that it does not reach the public and does not support whale tourism.
The ship that took part in transporting Timmy to the North Sea changed direction several times and returned to the port on Sunday evening with a police escort. It was requested by the ship’s crew themselves out of fear of the activists who were supposed to be waiting for them in the port.
Veterinarian: The release was chaotic and premature
On Monday morning, veterinarian Kirsten Tönnies held a press conference and began settling accounts with the shipping company. “It was bad on the ship for the last day and a half, two days. The situation was really unpleasant,” she said.
The captain and the other rescuers did not speak to her. “It went so far that they threatened to have me arrested as well. In the end, I was completely alone, isolated,” describes Tönniesová. He claims that the sentence should have been added: “Finally, the bastard (meaning the whale) is gone, that’s the main thing”. Who should have said this sentence, but the veterinarian did not say, writes the website of the weekly Focus.
She was not directly at the launch of the whale. “I was told that it should be pulled backwards using ropes and its fin. But that goes against the animal,” said Tönniesová. She even allegedly saw an injury “in the mouth”.
Tönniesová claims that the ship’s crew released the whale into the sea without agreement with the leadership of the volunteer team, who assumed that the ship would drag the whale much further into the North Sea. She described the way the animal was released as chaotic and premature. According to marine biology experts, it will now be difficult to assess whether the costly action was really a rescue.
