Their efforts, however, proved unsuccessful as the dolphin died in the waters at Mill River that afternoon.

While there is controversy bubbling on social media about whether or not the cause of death was due to the bystanders' interference, NOAA Public Affairs Officer Jennifer Goebel told the Times on Tuesday that that NOAA doesn’t think the statement "died due to human intervention by untrained bystanders," which was published on Gloucester Shellfish Constable's Facebook page “is quite right.”

“The dolphin was dying, and the people who intervened inflicted unnecessary additional stress on the dolphin, but it’s not clear that the dolphin died ‘due to human intervention',” Goebel wrote in the email.

This was the second dolphin sighting in two months, as a young bottlenose dolphin surprised passer-byers on Washington Street bridge on Dec. 31.However, the most recent sighting ended in jeers rather than cheers as spectators wanted someone — anyone —to help assist the animal in distress.