Dolphins spotted in New York river

Dolphins frolicking in the Bronx River. The Parks Department tweeted this on Jan. 19, noting it as a sign of the city's healthy waterways. Gothamist

User Instagram nick_banko was the first to share footage of dolphins frolicking in a section of the river near Starlight Park on Monday.

“So now I need answers,” he wrote. “If you are from the Bronx and know this park, explain to me why there are dolphins in this damn park.”

The Parks Department shared this video and explained that the visit of the dolphins is good.

“This is great news! It shows that decades of efforts to restore the river as a healthy habitat are bearing fruit. We believe that these dolphins naturally found their way to the river in search of fish.”

Wildlife Conservation Society scientist Howard Rosenbaum said the dolphins looked healthy in the video. They were not in distress, as some thought.

“We have come a long way in several decades of improving the state of the environment. Water purification, improved environmental management - all this helps the overall ecology and leads to the restoration of these systems, he explained. - I think it's just wonderful. And I hope that the overall ecological restoration of urban waterways will continue. And we will continue to see how marine animals – their habitat, their prey – thrive.”

On the subject: Where and when in New York you can watch whales

Assemblyman Kenny Burgos, whose district encompasses the park, joked that he would make time for dolphin watching.

Dolphin watching in the Bronx wasn't the only one in town this week. The Newtown Creek Alliance shared on Instagram a separate video of two dolphinsfloating in a toxic watercourse north of Greenpoint. It is unclear if these were the same dolphins seen in the Bronx.

“We encourage you to welcome these dolphins to Boogie Down! Make sure they are comfortable during the visit. Give them space and don't disturb them," the Parks Department tweeted.

The department's frivolous tone is markedly different from the situation in 2013. After all, then the dolphin swam into the Gowanus channel and died. Subsequent necropsy revealed that the dolphin was suffering from illnesses that were not related to the dirty Superfund facility.