The dolphin that was swimming in the Gowanus Canal died late this afternoon.
Friday afternoon, as snow started to fall, about two dozen people stood on the Union Street bridge to look down at the dolphin.
The dolphin seemed to be stuck, moving up and down on the side of the canal, surrounded by a styrofoam cup, milk jug and what appeared to be a phone book.
“Only in Brooklyn,” a passerby said.
Brian Egan walked from his home in Park Slope after hearing about the incident.
“Part of it is the novelty of being outside in a snowstorm, watching a dolphin in the canal,” he said, adding that he felt bad for the struggling animal.
The Gowanus Canal is so polluted that it was designated as a Superfund site, and federal officials themselves have advised never to swim in the Canal, which hosts PCBs and metals like mercury.
This week, the Independent Budget Office estimated that cleaning it up couldcost as much as $504 million for the city.
The price tag might be in the range of $467 to $504 million, according to the IBO, which warned that New York City might have to pay a “substantial” share. Tanks to store waste water alone would cost about $78 million.
The EPA held public meetings just this week to discuss its plans with the community.
Metro also awarded it an honorable mention in our story about the most toxic places in New York City.
