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Friday, January 25, 2013

Too Sad For Words: Dolphin Trapped In Gowanus Canal Dies

Gowanus dolphin
Screen Shot 2013-01-25 at 6.20.04 PM
Like many of you, I have been following the drama of the stranded dolphin in the Gowanus Canal since earlier in the day.  I should have taken a walk down to see for myself, but I just did not have it in me to see the poor creature as it struggled in the murky waters of the canal.
I wouldn't have been able to get the image out of my mind for a long time.
Odds were against the dolphin from the beginning, and predictably, it was just announced that it has died.
Even if it had made its way out of the Gowanus, it certainly had spent too much time in the toxic sludge to survive.
How very, very sad.

Thanks to Rick for sending me the photo above.



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7 comments:

  1. GlennJanuary 25, 2013 7:34 PM

    I look forward to the time that these wonderful creatures can visit us and survive. Let's make sure that NYC cooperates with the EPA cleanup so that the canal is no longer a "dead" end.

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  2. AGSJanuary 25, 2013 10:40 PM

    The canal, while disgusting, is still full of viable life. There is nothing to indicate that the canal's pollution had any affect on the dolphin's health. Further, this animal was most likely sick/old and ready to die. Dolphins are quite social and live in pods that number from a handful to 1000's of members. It would be extremely odd that a healthy individual, with the extreme intelligence that dolphins possess, would migrate from their pod, and then get lost or confused in a short canal like the Gowanus.

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2013 5:47 AM

    And the cold and the disorientation were contributions to the animal's demise. I was destroyed when I learned of this story. Thankfully, in some small media way, the local news crew's coverage and interviews of locals like Linda of FROG brought some attention to the filth that lurks nearby and the foolishness of the men attempting to build there.

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  4. DeeGeeJanuary 26, 2013 11:11 AM

    Why are dolphins up here in our cold waters anyway? Is this a global warming phenomenon?

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  5. AGSJanuary 29, 2013 12:00 AM

    http://gothamist.com/2013/01/28/gowanus_dolphin_wasnt_killed_by_can.php

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2013 9:54 AM

    almost all sea mamanals live a very social fife.. living in large groups called pods.. Dolphins in particulaer are highly intelligent and have amazing sonar like senses..this poor animal must have been very sick, old or injured to have wondered off course several hundreds of miles from his "family". It is unfortunate that it ended up in a place that is one of the many NYC cesspools to die.. but I doubt the canla had much to do with that.. In the end we all must go there.....

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  7. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2013 11:36 AM

    Dolphins are native to NY Harbor. Here's a good book to read:
    http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23258

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