Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Dead dolphin washes ashore in Astoria — cause of death under investigation
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Mar 1, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Chris St. Lawrence/Gotham Whale
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Mar 1, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A dead dolphin’s body was recovered after it washed up onshore in Astoria, Queens on Friday, but experts still aren't sure what caused the animal’s death.
While dolphins aren’t often seen in the East River, there have been some sightings of the marine mammals, including in recent weeks, according to Rob DiGiovanni, the chief scientist at the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.
The conservation society now has custody of the dolphin’s body, DiGiovanni said, adding a necropsy is being conducted to help determine what factors — including its age or diet — may have contributed to its death.
“There’s a lot of things that you have to be careful about, including jumping to any conclusions. We will take samples and see if we see anything,” he said.
DiGiovanni said that he’s also aware of claims on social media that another dead dolphin was also found earlier this week. However, he told Gothamist he suspects it’s the same dolphin because the only one corpse was retrieved and both sightings occurred close by.
“We’ve only recovered one dolphin so we can only say that there’s one dolphin. Everything we are saying right now is speculation,” DiGiovanni said.
The NYPD said the deceased dolphin appeared at Hallet’s Cove Beach along Vernon Boulevard in Astoria shortly after 7 a.m. The authorities recovered the corpse several hours later, shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Chris St. Lawrence, who works for Gotham Whale, a local research organization that studies marine life, said animals living in and around cities face many perils.
“One of the things with wildlife in these urban places is that there are a lot of threats against them and that is something that I think anybody who cares about wildlife in the city will know about,” he said.
“I think people are really interested — whether they recognize it or not — with that intersection of city and wildlife. We see it with birds like Flaco, or whales and dolphins,” he continued. “When we hear about marine animals living here in the city, it can be exciting.”
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Tagged
queens
environment
Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani opts not to define antisemitism in report to combat Jewish hate crimes
The decision avoids a hotly debated issue over whether certain kinds of criticisms of Israel constitute antisemitism.
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 11:36 a.m. ET
Police are still investigating bike crash that killed dad of 2 in Central Park
The family is raising money for the wife and two daughters he leaves behind.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
News
Police are still investigating bike crash that killed dad of 2 in Central Park
The family is raising money for the wife and two daughters he leaves behind.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
NYC has a plan to stop homeless people from cycling between hospitals and the streets
By
Karen Yi
Early Addition: Billy Joel is auctioning off 70 of his motorcycles
By
James Ramsay
Man dragged to death by subway in Brooklyn after getting caught on closing doors
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .