DOLPHINS AND other aquatic wildlife have been filmed swimming through the newly-clear waterways of Venice in Italy.
With all of the country under lockdown amid the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, the Italian city’s world-famous canals have been transformed.
Where once flooded with tourists and visitors eager to see the region’s world-famous sites, the decidedly quiet waters have now begun return to their natural clear blue colour following years of pollution.
A major reduction in boat traffic, which traditionally kicked sediment to the surface of the water running through Venice, has resulted in strikingly beautiful waters.
“Venice hasn’t seen clear canal water in a very long time,” Gianluca De Santis wrote on social media. “Dolphins showing up too. Nature just hit the reset button on us.”
Venice hasn't seen clear canal water in a very long time. Dolphins showing up too. Nature just hit the reset button on us pic.twitter.com/RzqOq8ftCj
— Luca (@lucadb) March 17, 2020
More significantly, footage has surfaced on social media of dolphins and other fish making rare appearances in the canals and ports of the city.
Not only that, but swans and ducks have also been spotted by those Italians close enough to film and photograph these increasingly rare phenomenon.
Locals have been sharing these uplifting images via the Facebook group Venezia Pulita with fish and birds of every shape and size spotted travelling through the open waters once dominated by gondolas.
Italy has been under lockdown since March 9, when Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte introduced a national quarantine.
There have already been more than 3,400 deaths from coronavirus in Italy, with that figure now exceeding the number reported in China.
