Fears were growing for the health of a dolphin which is trapped in the River Clyde in Glasgow.

The Rizzo’s dolphin, a deep-water species normally found out in the ocean, was first spotted in the river on Sunday morning.

The sight of the 10ft dolphin swimming in the city centre initially delighted onlookers, who gathered on the banks of the Clyde to watch as it frolicked playfully in the water yesterday, but their joy turned to concern after the mammal failed to swim back out to sea.

Yesterday a team of rescuers who assessed the dolphin from a dinghy gave warning that the dolphin, which has a serious head wound and appears to be dehydrated, is unlikely to survive.

Patrick Pollock, a veterinary expert from the University of Glasgow, who was among the group that inspected the animal, said: “Essentially the animal looks fairly emaciated. It’s got quite a nasty laceration over its head.”

Adding to the problems of its injuries, he said, is that it has no access to food.

“It’s very unusual to have an animal in the upper part of the Clyde and particularly this species. It’s usually found in deep water.

“These animals feed on squid and other animals that live in the deep sea area. We know from previous experience that once we see these animals coming up a river like the Clyde there’s something wrong.”

Andy Ireland, a volunteer from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, who was also on the dinghy, described the condition of the animal as “poor”.

“Its bones are visible, so it is obviously losing a lot of weight,” he said. “It doesn’t look good.”

The team are hoping to carry out a more detailed examination of the dolphin within the next couple of days, before deciding if is possible to carry out a rescue operation in which specialist equipment is used to float it back out to sea, or whether it must be euthanized.

It is thought that the badly-injured animal may have deliberately swam into the river to die.

The animal was first noted the Ministry of Defence on Saturday near the Faslane Naval Base. It was then seen yesterday morning near the Clyde Arc bridge – known locally as the “squinty” bridge.

The Clyde dolphin is not the first sea mammal to visit a major British city. In January 2006 a northern bottlenose whale famously swam up the River Thames into the heart of London.

The extraordinary incident - the first in the Thames since recordings had begun 100 years previously – drew thousands of spectators, but the whale died during a rescue attempt.

While the latest cetacean sighting in Glasgow has excited those who witnessed it, far fewer have turned up to observe the event.

June Mair, 66, from East Kilbride, one of just a handful of onlookers there today, said: “I heard about it and on the news and felt compelled to come. I’ve always had a yearn to watch dolphins, but this is a sad situation.”

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