"It's very uncommon for a dolphin or any marine animal to be in the Gowanus, but it's happened before, " Rob DiGiovanni, Riverhead Foundation's director and senior biologist, told CNN Friday.

CNN: Rescuers: Dolphin stranded in polluted New York canal dies

Because this animal is an endangered marine mammal, the fisheries service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is charged with designing a recovery plan.

CNN: Plan to save whales strangling in red tape

Lack of alteration does not imply lack of injury, according to Naomi Rose, a marine biologist at the Humane Society, an American animal-welfare charity.

ECONOMIST: The American navy may soon have a whale of a problem

The core area of this site is of great value in the protection of marine ecosystems and the habitats of various important plant and animal species.

UNESCO: EDUCATION