The Gowanus whale has died. The sad news was reported early this evening. According to Newsday:

“I’m told the mammal swam into shallow waters and thrashed around and then died,” said Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Frady said the cause of the whale’s death was unclear, and a necropsy was planned for tomorrow. But she said the whale’s foray this far inland portended trouble.

“In general, when animals are unexpectedly in an area where they’re not supposed to be, they’re either following something like food or there’s something wrong with them,” she said.

Earlier today, the whale was not reported to be showing signs of distress, but later reports said the whale had suffered additional cuts from banging into bulkheads along Gowanus Bay. Sludgie, as he/she had been nicknamed because of his/her proximity to the sewage-filled waters of the Gowanus, is said to have died a little after 5PM.