Strange

"Sludgy" the Whale Stuck in Brooklyn

by Brian A Kennedy | April 18, 2007 at 07:52 am

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Update: Poor Sludgy (Murky?), we hardly knew ye.

A baby minke whale marine experts have named "Sludgy" is swimming around Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal. Once one of the most polluted areas in the US, the canal's substantially cleaner now, but it's still got to suck for the poor guy; but never fear, biologists are trying to get him out.

Marine experts say the whale does not appear to be in distress, but
they say they'll try to coax it back into the ocean if it doesn't swim
back there on its own soon – because the Department of Environmental
Protection says the toxin level in the canal is pretty high.

Experts aren't sure how the whale got there, but they think it may have gotten disoriented from Sunday's nor'easter.

From the Gothamist blog:

Chopper 4
reporter Dan Rice told us, "It was hard to see the whale under water
because it is so brown. But about every 60 to 90 seconds it would
surface for air and dive again." He added, "Almost looked like it was
playing with the Coast Guard zodiac." [Zodiac is a kind of boat.] Cute,
except given Gowanus Lounge's belief that sewage has seeped into the
canal post-Nor'easter, we're worried.