It was at low tide, sunk to a twisting channel between flanks of mud glinting with moonlight.

NEWYORKER: Friendly Fire

Emergency personnel gathered in New York Friday alongside the canal, which borders Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood, in an effort to rescue the marine mammal, which inadvertently had become trapped in the channel's muck and mud.

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

Sediment-carrying rivers have been diverted, sea level has risen (increasing the volume of water in the lagoon), a deep-water channel has been dredged for shipping, and turbid waters are killing the eel grass that stabilises mud flats.

ECONOMIST: Flood barriers