Danish authorities are checking if a dead whale found in its waters might bea humpback nicknamed Timmy whose protracted rescue and releasecaptivated neighbouring Germany.

The juvenile male was guided through a freshly dredged channel onto a water-filled barge before being taken out to the North Sea earlier this month in an operation funded by two wealthy Germans off Timmendorfer beach for which it was named.

That split public opinion, with some in Germany saying it would be better to put down the whale as it appeared to be disoriented or ill and would suffer too much stress in the operation.

Denmark's Environmental Protection Agency said the dead humpback found near the small island of Anholt in the Kattegat strait about 200km away could be Timmy and tissue samples had been collected for potential identification.

"This possibility cannot be ruled out," spokeswoman Dorte Kofoed said of speculation that it was Timmy.

Experts believe the animal found off Denmark is a humpback whale of similar size to the one previously seen in distress in German waters in late March.

Timmy's plight garnered widespread media coverage in Germany and beyond.

In its final known chapter, a private rescue group spent several days transporting the weakened animal by barge into the North Sea.

On May 2, the group said the whale had been released.

However, details of how the operation ended remain unclear, and questions - along with conspiracy theories - have persisted ever since.

The initiative said no photos or videos exist of the release, and the whale's condition at the time remains uncertain.

There is also no reliable data on Timmy's whereabouts.

A GPS transmitter said by the team to have been attached to its dorsal fin has not sent any signals, and its installation has never been independently verified.

Danish authorities said no transmitter was found on the carcass near Anholt.

with DPA