BERLIN, April 25 -- The sad saga of a humpback whale stranded a month ago on the German coast has sparked a flood of compassion but also a media frenzy, angry spats, conspiracy theories and death threats.

As Germans have followed the travails of the sea mammal, dubbed "Timmy" by a newspaper, on their 'live' news tickers, TV screens and influencers' YouTube and TikTok channels, some worry about what its epic struggle says about a nation's collective psyche.

Sociologist Christian Stegbauer said the whale, a highly intelligent and social animal, had become an object of human "projections", with people engaging, especially on social media, in "a kind of competition on who cares most for the animal".

While rescue workers have exhausted them...