Rescuers' anguish as Moby dies

Staff at the Deep Sea World aquarium in Fife, Scotland, who battled to prevent Moby, a 40ft sperm whale (above) from beaching itself for the past two weeks lost the war yesterday. Moby, first spotted 13 days ago, died after beaching at Airth, in the estuary. Rescuers had tried to redirect the animal eastwards, out of the estuary, but it kept returning to swim inland.

Finally, at midday yesterday, Moby died one hour after becoming trapped as the tide went out. Alex Kilgour, a spokesman for Deep Sea World aquarium, which co-ordinated rescue attempts, said: "Moby died very quickly. We were dreading a long, drawn-out death that could have gone on for six to 12 hours, but he died within an hour, which was a blessing in disguise."