Dolphin Found Swimming in New York City Creek Died Despite Earlier Reports

The waters surrounding New York City are beginning to earn the reputation of a dolphin graveyard after a porpoise found swimming in a Brooklyn creek died early Friday morning.

First discovered Thursday swimming in a waterway near Coney Island, reports began circulating the following day that it had swam away after police helped to remove some of the debris surrounding it.

Those reports were false, according to NBC New York, which quoted the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation as saying the animal died Friday morning and was carried to shore by environmental officials.

According to police, the dolphin became stuck after it swam under a trash boom at the mouth of Coney Island Creek during high tide.

"If they get in really shallow water, they can get stressed out," police Lt. Barry Duignan told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond on Thursday. "He could be sick for having swam into such a shallow body of water like this."

Locals gathered to watch as the dolphin swam around the waterway, coming to the surface for air every two to three minutes.

"It's just so rare to see that over here in Brooklyn, especially down the block from our house," Emily Salazar of Coney Island told NBC prior to the dolphin's death. 

A second dolphin was discovered dead near Point Lookout on Long Island, the Riverhead Foundation further told the news outlet.

Officials were unable to save an injured dolphin that became stranded in Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal earlier this year. The Environmental Protection Agency declared the canal it was found swimming in a Superfund site in 2010, describing it as "one of the nation's most extensively contaminated water bodies." Discovered on a Friday, the dolphin was announced dead a day later.