Clear Water Now Flowing Through Venice Canals And Fish Become Visible Amidst Italy’s Coronavirus Lockdown

With the Covid-19 cases rising dangerously across Europe, many countries have entered coronavirus quarantine. But amidst this madness, turnout is not only to stop the virus from spreading but also has some bright side for nature. First, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in some countries dropped when people started staying at their homes.

These actions include cleaner air which results in clearer water. And that’s the case in Italy after their lockdown – the famous canals in Venice are crystal clear, revealing the thousands of little fish that live there. Like many other Italian cities, Venice went on lockdown following the outbreak of the coronavirus, and its busy squares and canals which are usually full of tourists now empty and abandoned.

More info: Venezia Pulita Facebook | Twitter

After Italy initiated the lockdown, people began to notice some changes in the canals of Venice

People can’t believe their eyes and are sharing photos of the crystal clear water on social media

The usually murky canals have cleared up revealing the thousands of little fish that live there

“The water now looks clearer because there is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom,” said a spokesman of Venice mayor’s office in an interview with CNN. “It’s because there is less boat traffic that usually brings sediment to the top of the water’s surface.”

Turns out the fish lived in the canals all along, they simply weren’t visible due to heavy traffic

Real estate agent and life-long Venetian Marco Capovilla, 40, filmed several schools of tiny fish swimming under the clear water surface in the canals and said he ‘had never seen’ such clear water in the popular destination city, and added that it was a ‘striking’ view.

Marco said: “During these days, traffic in Venice has become almost absent.

“The city doesn’t have sewers, so normally everything goes into the canals, including detergents and cosmetics.

“Thanks to the quarantine, we are experiencing a cleaner environment.”

Another local resident, bank worker Martina Bettoni, 33, said: “Seeing so many fish in the canals was extremely rare before the quarantine.

“I hope we’ll learn from this tragic time, and that when this is over Venice will be able to strike a balance between tourist crowds and cleanliness.”