National Museum of Scotland putting whale’s skull on display

The skull of a whale whose struggle to survive being beached captured the nation is to go on public display.

The 40ft sperm whale, known as Moby, died after being stranded on the banks of the River Forth at Airth in 1997.

His one-and-a-half ton skull will be on permanent display in the Grand Gallery at the National Museum of Scotland from Friday.

At the time Moby was the first sperm whale to be stranded in the Forth in more than 200 years.

Rescuers, including BP tugs and the pleasure boat Maid of the Forth, battled in vain to push him back out to sea.

His skeleton was later donated to National Museums Scotland’s natural science collections, which is home to one of the largest whale collections in the world.

Dr Andrew Kitchener, principal curator of vertebrates at National Museums Scotland, said: “Moby’s plight truly captured the heart of the nation and his skull is a dramatic and enticing specimen which represents the fantastic natural science collections we hold here.”