Police and animal activists helped rescue a distressed dolphin from the rocky shoreline of the Hudson River.

On Monday around 3:45 p.m., a woman walking her dog noticed what appeared to be a distressed dolphin on the banks of the Hudson River in Jersey City. First responders raced to the shoreline to see if they could save the dolphin.

A Liberty Humane Society animal control officer and a sergeant with the Jersey City Police Department jumped into the water and held the dolphin in place with a bed-sheet to try and stop it from crashing against the shoreline.

Marine Mammal Stranding Center staff drove two hours to get to the scene near the Morris Canal. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center then coordinated the effort to remove the dolphin from the water and take it to its center in Brigantine, N.J.

"Not everyday can you say you helped save a #dolphin," Liberty Humane Society wrote on Facebook.

Sadly, despite the best efforts of the rescue team, the dolphin later died.

Bob Schoelkopf, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, told NBC 4 staff had to euthanize the dolphin because it was very underweight and was unlikely to survive.

The dolphin weighed 130 pounds when it should weigh around 225 pounds, officials say. It's believed the dolphin was around 12 months and got separated from its group.

Schoelkopf told NBC while it's rare to see a dolphin come near the shoreline in the Tri-State area, it does happen.

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