They came in their hundreds, carrying flowers and weeping at the sight of a small blue coffin. But these mourners were not marking the passing of a popular relative or friend but the death of a dolphin named Moko. The bizarre ceremony took place in a small New Zealand town a week after its world-famous four-year-old bottlenose died.

Moko hit the headlines after saving the lives of stranded pygmy and sperm whales off the coast of Whakatane two years ago.

He then became a popular tourist attraction, with locals likening his behaviour to that of a boisterous teenager.

Helping to bury the mammal in a silk-lined blue coffin during a traditional ceremony, Pouroto Ngaropo, a senior Maori, said: 'He wasn't just a dolphin to the people around here.

'He was loved, he was respected, he was fun, he was taken in as one of the members of the community.'

The body was found washed up on a beach at Matakana Island a week ago and it was there that prayers, poems and speeches of remembrance were uttered before he was buried, a small cross marking the spot.

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