Where is the whale?: Timmy’s fate probably remains unknown – we have to endure that

How is the apparently severely weakened animal doing, which was released into the vastness of the North Sea? After every movement was previously visible in a live stream, every fountain was counted in live blogs (“Timmy is blowing for the seventh time today!”), Timmy is now swimming through the high seas, far away from the media public, or is already lying at the bottom. We don’t know because the rescuers withhold the alleged tracker data from public authorities that could at least make monitoring comprehensible.

One could object here: That’s just how it is when people act privately and not by the state. The rescue initiative, financed by two wealthy people, took over when the state, led by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Environment Minister Till Backhaus, did not want to carry out any further rescue attempts on the advice of scientists. This meant that the authorities lost a bit of control, which also led to people with questionable qualifications or right-wing views joining the team.

While those involved in the rescue are now discussing exactly how Timmy’s release happened, and lawyers are now getting involved in addition to the media, one scenario is becoming increasingly clear: perhaps the public will never know what happened to the humpback whale.

Even the outcome that many scientists expected would remain unproven: that Timmy would become a food source for wildlife at the bottom of the ocean. This would have made true what marine biologist Boris Culik formulated as a possibility weeks ago: the private rescuers became a “stroke of luck” for the state government. Because in the end they also covered the costs of retrieving the animal corpses.

Nor would we know whether Timmy survived: a happy, healthy life in freedom, perhaps even reunited with his family. If you like, you can imagine it – and fill in the gaps with a happy ending, like films like “Finding Nemo” tell.

Of all things, the whale rescue attempt, which is otherwise depicted in detail, lacks clear documentation in the last few meters. But that doesn’t have to be a problem.

You can endure uncertainty. Especially since exciting stories like those delivered by the whale are more than just the end anyway.

The whale can teach us a lot: about people who destroy the sea and its inhabitants for cheap fish. About politicians like Backhaus, who stand up for a cause and lose too much unhealthy sleep over it. About the respective advantages and disadvantages of state and private action and about the excesses of media reporting (some of which will also include this text).

Enduring uncertainty also means creating space for other topics. It’s time to let go of the whale.