Dolphins came back to swim in Venice’s clearest ever canals as the number of tourists in Italy decreased significantly over coronavirus. As CNN reported, zero boat traffic allows Italians to see dolphins, fish and swans sitting in the still water.
As nonessential businesses in Italy come to a halt, the canals of Venice were cleared of the usual boat traffic. The unexpected lockdown has surprisingly positive side effects like coming back dolphins and fish to the famous Venetian canals. The local residents are able to see dolphins, fish and swans sitting in the still and clear water.
In an effort to lift morale, people have taken to social media to share videos and pictures of the rare animal sightings. In fact, it a real miracle for people in Venice- a dolphin has been spotted in the canal for the first time in nearly 60 years.
Since the lockdown of Venice, both the water and air in the touristic city has been begun to clear up. While many on social media speculated that without the boats the water quality had improved, the Venice mayor’s office told quarantine had not resulted in cleaner water.
“The water now looks clearer because there is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom,” a spokesperson told CNN. “It’s because there is less boat traffic that usually brings sediment to the top of the water’s surface.”
Commenting on the consequences of the lockdown, the residents of Venice and other Italian cities are sharing photos and videos of wildlife. Meanwhile, air pollution over Italy is seeing a drop after the country introduced a nationwide lockdown.
According to the latest data of the European Space Agency’s (ESA), the concentrations of greenhouse gases and pollutants in the air shows decreasing of nitrogen dioxide over country. The reduction is especially visible in northern Italy, which has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 outbreak in the period between Jan. 1 and March 11.
“The decline in nitrogen dioxide emissions over the Po Valley in northern Italy is particularly evident,” Claus Zehner, ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager, said in a statement.
As of March 18, Italy had 31,506 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 2,503 in the country died from the disease, the WHO reported.
