Injured dolphin trapped in New York canal dies after rescuers refused to help because water is ‘too polluted’ to go in

A wayward dolphin died Friday night as it swam deep into the heart of New York City's Gowanus Canal, one of the dirtiest waterways in the United States.

Potential rescuers said they couldn't help the mammal as the canal was too polluted for people to enter the water safely.

Marine experts had hoped high tide, beginning around 7.10 pm, would help the dolphin leave the canal. But the animal was confirmed dead shortly before then, said the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, which didn't know how it died.

Battling freezing temperatures and thick pollution, the seven-foot-long short-beaked common dolphin made its way almost two miles inland to the end of the waterway, struggling for air as onlookers and authorities lined the canal.

  
Witnesses say the dolphin has been repeatedly trying to shake off sludge from its body