Timmy the whale is lastly free: Stranded humpback spouts a closing goodbye and disappears into the ocean after criticism of rescue mission that price thousands and thousands

A stranded humpback whale has finally been freed following a rescue mission that cost millions.

The whale – dubbed ‘Timmy’ – spouted a final goodbye before disappearing into the ocean, a moment many feared would never come after critics argued he should be left to die. 

Timmy had been struggling to survive after breaching near the German coast was on Saturday released into the North Sea off Denmark after being transported in a barge, a member of a rescue mission said.

He 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.

The whale left the barge it had been towed on from Wismar Bay on the Baltic coast at around 8:45 am (0645 GMT), said Karin Walter-Mommert from the rescue initiative.

Timmy is now swimming on its own and freely, and at least for the time being, in the right direction, she said.

At the start of April, German officials gave up on trying to rescue the animal, saying they believed he could not be saved.

But this triggered an outcry and authorities were persuaded to approve a privately financed rescue plan proposed by two wealthy entrepreneurs.

The barge idea was hatched after their initial attempt to save the whale with inflatable cushions and pontoons was unsuccessful.

The rescue effort was seen as a long shot and criticised by experts who said it would only cause the animal more distress.

The whale’s ordeal has sparked a media frenzy – with non-stop coverage from TV channels, online outlets and social media influencers – but has also led to angry spats and conspiracy theories.

Biologists questioned whether the 12 tonne animal should have been saved at all given its poor health and the huge price.

‘I believe the whale will die very soon now. And I would also like to raise the question: What is actually so bad about that?’ said Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, earlier this month.

‘Yes, animals live, animals die. This animal is really, really, very, very, very sick. And it has decided to seek rest.’

The whale, which stranded in shallow Baltic waters far from its natural Atlantic habitat, was coaxed into the vessel on Tuesday in a last-ditch attempt to return it to the sea after weeks of struggle along Germany’s coast.

The ship Fortuna B, which is towing the barge, was located between the Danish islands of Langeland and Lolland at around 2pm on Wednesday, according to VesselFinder, with officials saying it could reach the North Sea in two days.

‘If everything goes well, he’ll be in the North Sea in two days. The very worst is already behind him now,’ said Till Backhaus, environment minister for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Speaking on the island of Poel, where the animal was most recently stranded, on Thursday Backhaus said it was ‘doing well’ and had made sounds during the night, thanking rescuers for their ‘wonderful’ effort in ‘an exceptional situation that is hardly comparable anywhere in the world in this form’.

But attempts to save the mammal have been criticised by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) as ‘inadvisable’, with experts saying the creature ‘appeared to be severely compromised’ and was ‘unlikely to survive’ attempts to move it into deeper water.

The whale has been described as lethargic and suffering with blister-like blemishes, while parts of a fishing net, some of which was removed early on in its stranding, are believed to be still caught in its mouth.

Continuing to try to save the creature amounts to ‘pure animal cruelty’, according to the director of the Oceanographic Museum in Stralsund, Burkard Baschek.

‘A rescue attempt … is no longer worthwhile … this has been confirmed to us repeatedly by international colleagues,’ he warned prior to the mission.

Experts from the museum warned again on Wednesday against letting Timmy loose in the open sea, saying it was in danger of drowning, and called on the team behind the rescue operation to be transparent, including providing data on the mammal’s whereabouts and publish location if it was freed.

The humpback had been struggling for more than a month along the German coast, repeatedly getting stuck on sandbanks before freeing itself again.

At the start of April, officials abandoned rescue efforts, saying the whale could not be saved, and activists called for him to be left to die in peace.

But public outcry led authorities to approve a privately financed plan proposed by two entrepreneurs, who said they hoped to save the mammal ‘whatever it costs’.

The movement to rescue Timmy sparked a national frenzy, with supporters baking whale-shaped cakes, writing songs about the animal and having themselves tattooed with images of the whale.

The barge idea followed an earlier failed attempt using inflatable cushions and pontoons and was widely seen as a long shot, with experts warning it could cause further distress.

Rescuers pulled the whale into a flooded barge on Tuesday using straps and a channel dredged to create a passage to the vessel, with the operation broadcast live.

After some distance, the whale, with rescuers swimming alongside it, sped up and then swam into the barge, sparking cheers from the rescue team and those watching from the shore.

‘I can’t even say how happy I am,’ said Karin Walter-Mommert, one of the entrepreneurs financing the rescue bid.