Sebastian Peters / NEWS5 / AFP / Getty

An aerial photo taken on May 2, 2026, shows the rescued humpback whale offshore near Skagen, after it was released from a barge. It had been struggling to survive after beaching off the German coast but was released into the North Sea off Denmark, Germany’s News5 agency said. Dubbed Timmy by the German media, the whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on March 23 near the city of Luebeck before freeing itself and then becoming stuck again several times. Some experts expressed concern about the whale’s immediate prospects, noting that the whale had been quite ill, and that such a lengthy stranding weakened it significantly.