The Rialto Bridge and Grand Canal are deserted, but unlike the wildlife, Venice’s human residents survive on throngs of tourists.
Venice, Italy — Venice has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic without its usual influx of tourists. But it has enjoyed an unintended benefit: Nature is flourishing.
CBS News’ Chris Livesay reports that, perhaps more than any other city, Venice has gone from one extreme to the other under lockdown. The Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal and even St. Mark’s Square have been deserted as people around the world have stayed home, and as Italy has battled its COVID-19 outbreak.
Ecologist Marco Sigovini says the streets and canals usually awash with tourists are so still, that nature has moved in to fill the void. There are hardly any boats to churn up cloudy sediment and scare away marine life, so jellyfish and schools of fish are swimming around in the iconic canals. The European Space Agency has snapped satellite images – taken a year apart in April – that show the dramatic reduction in boat traffic:
Cruise ships are conspicuously absent, too.
