A humpback whale rescued after beaching itself in Germany has been found dead near a Danish island. The whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on 23 March, off the island of Poel on Germany's Baltic coast. It swam free in early May after a water-filled barge carried it into the North Sea. The operation was privately funded by two German entrepreneurs and spurred intense public debate, with critics suggesting it would only cause the animal distress. A whale carcass was reportedly spotted on Thursday off the Danish island of Anholt, located between Denmark and Sweden. Authorities were not immediately able to confirm it was the same whale. In a statement, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency said conditions on Saturday made it possible for the whale's identity to be verified, and its tracking device retrieved. The agency told AFP that there are no concrete plans to remove the whale from the area or to perform a necropsy, and it is not currently considered to pose a problem in the area. However, it emphasized that people should not approach the whale due to possible diseases that can be transmitted to humans. Concerns were also raised about the potential for explosion as decomposition could create large volumes of internal gas. The whale, nicknamed Timmy or Hope by rescuers and German media, became stranded on Timmendorfer Beach in Lübeck Bay on 23 March. Initially, it freed itself but subsequently became stuck again multiple times. German authorities attempted several rescues before announcing they were giving up. Entrepreneurs Karin Walter-Mommert and Walter Gunz later funded a private rescue, fitting the whale with a tracking device and coaxing it onto a water-filled transport ship called Fortuna B. Till Backhaus, the environment minister in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, praised the operation as a success and an example of what can be done. However, wildlife groups were skeptical about the whale's future after its release, highlighting concerns over its weakened state and potential for drowning.