In pictures published by German Bild, Timmy is seen swimming and blowing air in the open sea - for the first time in over a month.
The whale's fate has engaged Germany and parts of the world since March, when he first ran aground on a German sandbank.
Since then, a series of more or less successful rescue attempts have been launched. Each time, Timmy - who was given his name by the German media - has ended up getting stuck again.
But now he is free. On Tuesday, the humpback whale was pulled into a specially built barge with a water-filled hold, and then towed to deep water in the North Sea.
