Danish authorities plan to tow the carcass of the humpback whale known as "Timmy" from the holiday island of Anholt to a port in Jutland.
The whale is lying in shallow water on a busy beach where it could cause a serious disturbance to residents and tourists, the Danish environmental agency said on Thursday.
Authorities said they would attempt to tow the whale - which was previously the subjects of weeks of rescue efforts after becoming stranded off Germany's Baltic coast - to the mainland port of Grenaa on Thursday, with the operation likely to take the entire day.
A post-mortem examination could then take place on Friday.
It would be easier to work on the carcass in the port, according to the agency.
"In Grenaa, scientists and veterinarians will carry out the examinations and take samples, as has been done in previous strandings of larger whales," the environmental agency said in a statement.
The press will be permitted to observe the work on the animal from behind barriers, as "machinery and sharp equipment" would be in use, it added. Should it prove impossible to move the whale to the port, authorities plan to examine it on Anholt.
The Danish environmental agency had previously warned the public not to approach the animal due to the risk of infection. The carcass could also explode, with footage from livestream provider News5 showing that it has become extremely bloated with decomposition gases.
Islanders want carcass gone
As far as Anholt's residents are concerned, the sooner the whale is removed the better.
"It is a strong wish of the locals that the whale is transported away promptly so it does not disturb holidaymakers," said Pia Lange Christensen, director of the tourism organization Visit Aarhus, which also covers the island of Anholt.
The season has just begun, she told dpa. "In the coming weeks, more and more tourists will come to the island, which is a very popular holiday destination."
For Denmark, a country with a long coastline, whale strandings are not unusual, Christensen noted. "And it does not normally take long for the authorities to remove the animals," she added.
The weakened whale had previously stranded several times on Germany's Baltic coast, before a private initiative recently transported it alive to the North Sea and released it.
The whale was later found dead off Anholt, where it has now presented the Danes with a significant challenge.
It was not all negative, however, Christensen noted. "At least the whale has brought attention to Anholt," she said.
Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry in the German city of Schwerin is attempting to obtain a tracker that the private initiative had attached to the whale, to analyse the data it contains. It is as yet unclear how long the marine mammal survived after its release.
