THE rain was beating down heavy on the Clyde. The sky was grey, the water was grey, the buildings were grey. And then a grey fin appeared.
The distinctive curve of a dolphin emerged from the water with an explosion of air from its blowhole before it slipped back down to hunt for food.
It was a rare sight for the centre of Glasgow yesterday and attracted a stream of onlookers willing
to brave the weather for a glimpse of the creature.
The dolphin seemed content, despite being surrounded by litter, at one point peeking through the water with a salt-and-vinegar crisp packet on its fin, and later with a plastic carried bag caught around it.
The animal spent hours swimming near the Glasgow Science Centre.
One onlooker, John McLeod, a 23-year-old medical secretary who lives nearby, said: "It's really exciting to see this creature in the middle of the city where normally you'd have to go miles out to see one. It's quite encouraging to see life on the Clyde."
As the afternoon wore on, experts became increasingly concerned for the animal. A photograph sent to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society led to its identification as a Risso's dolphin, a deep-water mammal rarely found so far up river. A spokeswoman said a fresh injury below the dolphin's left eye had also been spotted and they were concerned it was disorientated.
Risso's dolphins are known for distinctive scarring across their bodies from fighting and encounters with their chosen food source, squid.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish SPCA said the dolphin was first spotted on Saturday near Faslane Naval Base and was initially monitored by Ministry of Defence staff. By yesterday morning it was reported near the Millennium and Bells bridges, swimming near the science centre and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Science Centre staff said they watched the animal from about 9:30am and alerted the SSPCA. Sightings of the animal had stopped by mid-afternoon.
Faye Archell, director of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), said there was no way to know why the dolphin had decided to visit Glasgow.
She said: "It could have followed something, it could be sick or old and has come in to strand and die – there could be 100 reasons. But it isn't common for this type of dolphin to be so far up river. We are always concerned when these animals come in very close to shore.
"Risso's dolphins are found around the coast of Scotland, but in very deep water. So it's concerning to find it in the Clyde."
Ms Archell said medics were last night trying to find the dolphin and check its condition, but they hoped it might have swum back out to sea.
She added: "It's difficult to tell how serious its injury is, but pollution is also a problem. The dolphin getting caught on carrier bags just highlights the problem we have with pollution."
Glasgow's dolphin is not the first sea mammal to visit a British city. The most famous in recent years was the bottle-nosed whale that became stranded in the Thames in 2006. Last September a northern bottle-nosed whale became beached in Loch Roag off Lewis. And most recently, 21 common and striped dolphins died on 9 June after leaving the open sea and heading up a river in Cornwall.
About 40-50 dolphins or whales are stranded around the UK each year.
A dolphin species doing well around the worldRISSO'S dolphins (Grampus griseus) were first described in 1812 by Georges Cuvier, a French naturalist and zoologist.
They are typically up to 12ft long, averaging about 650 pounds. Larger Risso's dolphins can weigh up to 1,100lb.
They have stocky heads without a beak, and get whiter as they age, largely due to extensive scarring caused by fights with other dolphins or the squid they eat.
Found all over the world, the mammals favour deep temperate and tropical waters, from the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. They prefer waters just off a continental shelf, on deep banks where the water temperature is at least 10C, if not warmer than 15C.
Populations have been recorded as high as 60,000 off the United States and more than 250,000 in the Pacific, though there is no worldwide estimate of Risso's dolphin numbers. The species is considered to be abundant and safe.
The full article contains 748 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
