VENICE, Italy (WSVN) — A jellyfish was spotted swimming through the canals in Venice after Italy’s lockdown saw a steep decline in the traffic on the city’s waterways.
Andrea Mangoni, a biologist who works in Venice, recorded video showing a jellyfish gliding through the waters in a Venetian canal. Mangoni shared the video on his YouTube channel, which features more videos of animal life.
Mangoni told Reuters that the low tide and traffic amid the lockdowns has increased the water transparency and made the aquatic life visible in the center of the city.
Attili Rinaldi, a professor at Italy’s University of Bologna said the jellyfish species, called the rhisostoma pulmo, is very common in the upper Adriatic Sea, and could enter the Venetian canals through tidal flows that connect the canals to the lagoon.
According to Fox 13, a spokesperson for the city’s mayor explained why the water in the city is clearer, saying, “There is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom. It’s because there is less boat traffic that usually brings sediment to the top of the water’s surface.”
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