The Danish authorities intend to remove the carcass of the humpback whale known as Timmy from the waters off the island of Anholt to allow for a post-mortem examination.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday that the animal is lying in shallow water on a popular beach and is likely to cause significant disruption to bathers and residents.
A day earlier, authorities had announced there were no plans to move the carcass, which has attracted the curious and the reckless. Some have swum out to get a closer look and even posed for photos on top of it, prompting outrage online.
For this reason, the whale is to be recovered. “Work is currently under way on a solution that will simultaneously allow a post-mortem to be carried out and valuable scientific samples to be secured for research purposes,” said Jane Hansen of the environment agency.
The agency said Danish researchers and vets will be responsible for the recovery of the whale, the post-mortem and the collection of samples.
“The Danish authorities are also in close contact with the German authorities regarding the situation, and there is ongoing coordination between Danish and German research institutions,” Hansen said in a statement.
The agency urged members of the public to continue to keep their distance from the whale, as there could be a risk of infection.
The weakened animal, which had stranded several times on the Baltic Sea coast, had been transported to the North Sea by a private initiative more than two weeks ago, but was then washed up dead off the island of Anholt.