Did Dolphins and Swans ‘Return’ to Italian Waterways Amid COVID-19 Lockdown?







A few wildlife sightings were excitedly shared across social media as a note of sunny news amid the bleak reality of the coronavirus pandemic.







































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['Amid a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Italians reported seeing wildlife such as swans and dolphins "returning" to newly tranquil waterways, ports, and canals.', "Dolphins and swans were indeed spotted in some of Italy's waterways after the nationwide lockdown was imposed.", "Dolphins and swans swimming in Italy's waterways were not necessarily new phenomena related to reduced human activity during the COVID-19 lockdown.", 'Outside of Asia, Italy has been hardest hit by the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. But in March 2020, as the country continued to deal with rising death tolls and a national lockdown, many found relief in posting images of wildlife on social media.', 'Perhaps eager for good news, some shared the images and news stories with commentary saying the nationwide lockdown had resulted in unprecedented clear and tranquil waters in Italy, leading to a return of wildlife such as dolphins and swans to places like the now-uncrowded Venetian canals. Readers asked Snopes if this news was too good to be true. The answer is yes and no, as we will explain below.', 'Here are some examples of social media posts:', '', "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", '— Gianluca De Santis (@b8taFPS) March 17, 2020', '', 'The dolphins shown in the video, it turns out, were not swimming in the iconic canals of Venice, but off the coast of Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. Dolphin sightings in that area are not a new phenomenon, as a 2017 video demonstrates.', 'National Geographic pointed out that the swan sightings were real, but not described accurately. “The swans in the viral posts regularly appear in the canals of Burano, a small island in the greater Venice metropolitan area, where the photos were taken,” National Geographic reported.', 'Furthermore, although some social media users seemed to think the water seen in these images appeared more transparent because it was “cleaner” or due to reduced human activity, that wasn’t necessarily the case. As experts interviewed by ABC News pointed out, the water was clearer, though not necessarily cleaner, due to a lockdown-related reduction in boat traffic, which typically “kicks sediment to the surface” and makes it murkier.', 'On March 19, Italy’s death toll officially surpassed that of China, where the virus was initially detected. Sadly, as of this writing, 3,405 people in Italy have died from COVID-19, and the country’s hospitals in hard-hit regions are overwhelmed with patients.', 'The COVID-19 pandemic has sickened and killed thousands globally. Per the latest World Health Organization report, there are 191,127 confirmed cases worldwide and 7,807 deaths.', 'Christian, Bonnie.\xa0“Dolphins and Swans Appear in Venice Canals a Week After City Locks Down to Prevent Coronavirus Spread.”\n\xa0 \xa0 Evening Standard. \xa0 18 March 2020.', 'Jacobo, Julia.\xa0“Venice Canals Are Clear Enough to See Fish as Coronavirus Halts Tourism in the City.”\n\xa0 \xa0 ABC News. \xa0 18 March 2020.', 'Daly, Natasha.\xa0“Fake Animal News Abounds on Social Media as Coronavirus Upends Life.”\n\xa0\xa0National Geographic.\xa020 March 2020.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', 'A complete story is rarely told in a headline.', 'Social media rumors that two memorials in New York were vandalized proved misleading.', 'In August 2019, a 23-year-old unarmed Black man died after an encounter with police officers in Aurora, Colorado.', 'A chaotic scene in St. Louis sparked outrage, memes, and confusion.', 'Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on sex abuse charges connected to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.', 'The white supremacist group made frequent use of the slogan more recently embraced by President Donald Trump, though they did not, as some claim, invent it.', "The question of past arrests often surfaces among people who want to rationalize police officers' actions when Black men are killed in custody.", 'You can claim anything if you remove the barrier of evidence.', 'Rumors about antifa plotting violence have coincided with the month of July and Gettysburg before.', '© 1995 - 2020 by Snopes Media Group Inc.', 'This material may not be reproduced without permission.', 'Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com']
Did Dolphins and Swans 'Return' to Italian Waterways Amid COVID-19 Lockdown?