Brooklyn's Sludgie the Whale Dies

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Sad news about Sludgie the whale: The baby minke whale, who captivated our attention as he frolicked in the Gowanus Bay, died yesterday afternoon. He beached himself near Clinton Street around 5PM.

The Riverhead Foundation's rescue program had been monitoring the whale and did not believe he was in trouble when he first appeared yesterday, since he seemed to be swimming normally. Rescue director Kim Durham told WCBS 2, "it suddenly began heavy splashing, hit the dock and then just went quiet." She said, "It was a very young whale that became confused and disoriented." There will be a necropsy performed on the whale - apparently it had fresh cuts on its head.

The NY Times spoke to Debra Clarke, who arrived too late to catch sight of the whale:

"We just came hoping for good news,” she said, noting that she and her friends had spent most of the day watching broadcast news of the Virginia Tech massacre. “After Virginia, you come here rooting for the whale. You hope that something good has to happen, because it turns out these are days for tears.”
Gowanus Lounge's Robert Guskind had told the press, "People are concerned about the creature's ability to survive. Quite honestly it could not have picked a worse spot." Even Mayor Bloomberg agreed; before the whale died, he said, "My thoughts are with the whale."

Photographs by Amy Langfield/NewYorkology

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Comments (11) [rss]

That really sucks.

Thank you for the update, Jen.

That poor solitary whale swimming around in our sludge...

Another sad story in a horrible week.
:(

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Why didn't they try and coax him out? They talked about it being toxic and then left him there. Sad day! I miss Sludgie too!

Sludgie...Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. You'll be missed.

Sludgie... You'll be missed. Thanks for bringing a smile to our day while you were here.

I would have beached myself too if I was in the Gowanus. I wonder if the pollution altered his senses, and caused the collisions?

Sad.

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carvel should make a commemorative ice cream cake for sludgie

I don't understand why the biologists did not try to help him. They were claiming that he was swimming normally. While eye witnesses said he was going in circles, which means he was distressed. What were they "monitoring" him for why didnt they try to help. Poor baby

I am a whale lover for Sludgie the whale and it was really sad that he died yesterday afternoon

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