A dolphin is dead today.

Remember that adorable dolphin seen swimming the Hudson River on Sunday?

Like so many of the day-players who get filmed at Chelsea Piers on Law & Order as Cadaver #2, it has met its maker. As previously noted, DNAinfo reported:

A dead dolphin was found floating near Chelsea Piers Thursday morning, days after one was spotted swimming on the Hudson River, officials said. A spokeswoman for the Riverhead Foundation, which had been searching for the lone dolphin since it was seen in the Hudson Sunday evening, said it was too soon to say whether the dead dolphin was the same as the one that was spotted Sunday. "We won't know if it's the same dolphin until we match the dorsal fin," said Kim Durham, spokeswoman for the foundation, which monitors marine mammals in New York. But sources said that it was highly likely, given the rarity of lone dolphins in the Hudson River.

Maybe if more people were not immediately overjoyed at the prospect of seeing a dolphin in the Hudson River—and who can blame them? Dolphins are wonderful!—and didn't register that joy as their first thought, as opposed to "There is something seriously wrong with seeing something as majestic as a dolphin swimming in something as vile as the Hudson River," and alerted the Riverhead Foundation Rescue Program sooner, maybe it could have been saved. Maybe if people reacted to this dolphin the same way they reacted to seeing a US Airways land in the Hudson, and alerted the Riverhead Foundation's Rescue Program the same way they would have Tweeted about an airplane in the Hudson, or called 911, it may have lived to happily swim and bring itself, other dolphins, and possibly some humans who don't live in a Gomorrah-esque metropolis some much-needed joy to their lives.

Did our—however tempered—happiness at seeing this dolphin kill it? Probably not. Is it being suggested that this writer's colleague may have had a hand in the death of a beautiful, magnificent, noble, and harmless creature by not properly alerting the public in the foremost fashion possible of the eminent danger it was in, instead of exploiting it for a moment of joy? Of course not. The colleague in question has gone on record as a friend of dolphin-kind, and no doubt, her intentions were not malicious.

But maybe we should all pause a moment, and consider the fate of this dolphin, and anything else we see in the Hudson that appears, quite simply, not right. Maybe we should all just get rid of Instagram. Maybe, today, inside, we are all a dead dolphin in our own ways.

Or maybe not. Maybe, sometimes, a dead dolphin is just a dead dolphin. But we'll never know for sure, now, will we?

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

R.I.P. bottlenose buddy (DNAInfo.com)

Sadly, our friend the Hudson bottlenose dolphin has passed away. It was discovered, belly-up, on the Chelsea Piers this morning, several days after it was spotted frolicking in the murky waters separating Manhattan from New Jersey.

Though this is devastating news, we do retain some hope that this mammal carcass might not be the same dolphin that has recently been photographed in the water.

DNAInfo--which has really been on top of this story since day one, so kudos-- reports:

A spokeswoman for the Riverhead Foundation, which had been searching for the lone dolphin since it was seen in the Hudson Sunday evening, said it was too soon to say whether the dead dolphin was the same as the one that was spotted Sunday.

"We won't know if it's the same dolphin until we match the dorsal fin," said Kim Durham, spokeswoman for the foundation, which monitors marine mammals in New York.

Second dolphin conspiracy theory time! We know it's unlikely, but we'd rather live in a fantasy world where this is the dolphin that finally met justice, Fugitive-style, than our original dolphin on the lamb.

Either way, R.I.P. bottlenose buddy.

The photo of the dolphin on the Hudson (Jennifer Parker, via DNAInfo.com)

Oh my gawsh, there is a dolphin hanging around the Hudson River. Adorbs! Well, not really. Dolphins are smarter than people, at least when it comes to stuff like "how to survive in water," and even humans are smart enough not to know not to swim in the Hudson.

So sadly, this little dolphin is probably very sick. Or trying to avenge his wife's murder. Read on!

The dolphin was first spotted by Jennifer Parker who saw the (probably bottlenose) mammal swimming down from Harlem on Sunday afternoon. She sent the photo to DNAInfo.com, who in turn contacted Riverhead Foundation's Rescue Program to find out what a dolphin is doing so far away from its maaaackerel source. (Dolphins are mammals and they eat mackerel, FYI.)

Here was the reply from the Foundation:

Kim Durham, the director of the Riverhead Foundation's Rescue Program, said the dolphin in the pictures looked like a bottlenose....

She added that bottlenose dolphins often travel in groups and one by itself was unusual, but it was not immediately clear if the animal was behaving like it needed help.

"A lone dolphin does kind of have us on alert," she said.

"The main thing we look for is whether or not it's free swimming or if it comes ashore."

Man, even if the little guy (or gal) isn't hurt, this is such a sad story. Why isn't the bottlenose swimming with its friends? Was is ostracized for a crime it didn't commit and now needs to find the one-dorsal dolphin to clear its name? (Dolphin Fugitive. Michael Hirschorn, call us!) You can see larger photos of the dolphin over at DNAInfo.com. Or if you want to see a photo of a happy dolphin that is not swimming in the Hudson, here you go:

YOU ARE WELCOME!
Either way, we hope that there is enough maaaaackerel for the dolphin to eat in the Hudson, and that these fish have the normal number of eyes, give or take a couple. Although mutant dolphins are also not the worst idea for a film concept we've ever come up with.

If you see the dolphin and are done snapping Instagram photos of it, please contact the Riverhead Foundation's hotline immediately: 631-369-9829. And then send us the pics.