ONE year after she captured the hearts of Londoners, the Thames whale has gone on show for the first time.

The 16-foot skeleton of the northern bottlenose whale that became stranded in the Thames is on show all this week.

The exhibition, being held at the Guardian Newsroom, Farringdon Road, recounts the dramatic rescue attempt through stunning photographs featuring the capital's landmarks and a documentary.

It also proves the seven-year-old female has not been forgotten and that her untimely death was not in vain.

The whale's 39 vertebrae, three ribs and skull form an artistic sculpture inside a specially made case made by the aquarium company that built the tank in which artist Damien Hirst's pickled shark was displayed.

Almost exactly one year ago, thousands of Londoners lined the banks of the Thames to watch her pass Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, while millions across the world were captivated on TV.

"People were really excited at first. They were clapping and cheering and it was a real festival atmosphere," recalled Richard Sabin, the mammal curator at the Natural History Museum.

Mr Sabin was the first person to identify the whale's species and one of the few who knew she had little chance of surviving.

"As soon as I realised that it was a northern bottlenose, I had very, very grave doubts that it would survive as it's a deep sea whale which was a long way off course.

"By the second day the public realised that this was an animal in trouble."

Mark Stevens from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, which led the rescue bid, said at first his team was taken aback by the huge public response.

"But as we sailed down stream the waving, cheering and clapping gave us new energy. It was a fabulous feeling."

The cheers turned tears when she died while having convulsions on board a barge in Gravesend as rescuers desperately tried to return her to the open ocean on January 21.

The post-mortem established the cause of death as dehydration, cardiovascular failure, muscle damage and kidney failure. Vets also found a whole potato, fragments of plastic and algae in her stomach.

After a call for public donations the £10,000 process of preserving the skeleton began with the grizzly task of defleshing the whale.

Emma Sherlock from the NHM said: "It was a difficult job, the bones were heavy and very slippery, especially with our waterproof gloves on. It was also freezing outside."

The bones were processed three times through a tank filled with washing powder and water heated to 60C. Oil continues to slowly leach out of the bones and may continue to do so for many more months.

The skeleton is housed at the NHM, were it will hopefully go on show again in the future. Mr Sabin said no plans to show the whale had yet been made as all museum displays were planned years in advance.

The Thames whale can be seen the Guardian and Observer Newsroom archive and visitor centre, 60 Farringdon Road, until Saturday, January 27. Tickets are free, but you must call 020 7239 9993 to book in advance.