Texel mayor Francine Giskes (D66) has described criticism of the treatment of the humpback whale which beached on a sandbank close to the Wadden Sea island as ‘throwing mud’.

Good efforts were made to save the animal which was at a tricky location, the mayor said. Activists, including seal sanctuary operator Lenie ‘t Hart and MP Marianne Thieme, have said the whale could have been saved.
‘A healthy whale would not become stranded so there must have been something wrong with it,’ Giskes said. ‘It is terrible to see an animal suffering before it dies and I am glad it did not take too long,’ the mayor told Radio 1.
Died
The whale, nicknamed Johannes died on Saturday night. On Friday, it survived a lethal injection.
Giskes said a broad spectrum of experts had been consulted and the council had carried out their recommendations.
Meanwhile the Ecomare marine institute on Texel has alerted the police to a number of threats made using the microblogging service Twitter suggesting its own staff should have been given a lethal injection instead.
Questions are also being asked about mysterious men in white suits seen by one eyewitness on the sandback on Saturday night along with several helicopters. There are also reports of strange round holes in the whale’s flesh which have suddenly appeared.