CONEY ISLAND — A wayward dolphin was found dead in a Coney Island creek Tuesday afternoon, rescuers from the Riverhead Foundation said.
The marine mammal sighting was reported to authorities about 3:15 p.m., police said. The creek is a tributary of Gravesend Bay that runs just south of the Belt Parkway.
A team of animal rescuers with the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation was headed to the scene to investigate, the foundation's director Bob DiGiovanni told DNAinfo.
Details on how or when the sea creature died weren't immediately available.
There's been a spate of dolphin sightings in the last few months, DiGiovanni said. A baby dolphin was found dead on the beach in Coney Island in February, the Brooklyn Daily reported. Two dolphin sightings happened in the East River in March, and in January, a dolphin died in the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal.
DiGiovanni said Riverhead Foundation was looking for donations so its biologists could research the reasons behind the trend.
People who spot dolphins in distress are asked to call the Foundation's hotline at 631-369-9829.