(CNN) – It was one of the videos that went viral during the first blockade in 2020, which cheered everyone up while they were at home: a dolphin swimming close to the surface in what was claimed to be a Venetian canal.
It was fake, of course – it turned out to be shot near the port of Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia.
But on Monday, two dolphins even went on a day trip to Venice.
They took a trip on the famous Grand Canal, before swimming on the island of Giudecca, where they saw no less than two churches of Renaissance star architect Andrea Palladio, before returning home to the Adriatic Sea.
Their visit came when the city is in another blockade, while Italy is struggling with a third wave of Covid-19.
And while they were in danger during their time in the city, it is believed that the dolphins managed to get out safely.
An hour later, they appeared at the mouth of the Grand Canal, swimming on the iconic waterways to the famous Salute church, where the Busetto team – now biased to begin work – attracted them again.
“But they were also very dangerous because of all the boats going back and forth, which could have injured them with their propellers.” The group tried to stop the traffic while waiting for the police to arrive.
The rescue mission
The CERT team is looking for dolphins in the lagoon of Venice.
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“The traffic was heavy and we realized that the dolphins were completely disoriented, swimming in all directions, especially because they were scared,” Guido Pietroluongo of the group told CNN.
“The dolphins are mostly sound-oriented, but here, both sides of the canal had walls and boats around. Authorities said they were stuck there for two hours, swimming around.
And so for rescue. The CERT team – led by Professor Sandro Mazzariol – coordinated nine boats of the Venetian authorities in a chain, trying to direct the animals to the Lido, the long strip of beach in Venice and a point where the Venetian lagoon meets the Adriatic Sea. It lasted two and a half hours.
“Repeatedly, a ferry would have crossed the chain, so the dolphins would get lost again,” says Pietroluongo.
Eventually, with other traffic redirected, the “chain” worked, and the dolphins turned their backs on St. Mark’s Square to Lido.
“We realized that the animals were at the safest point and we wanted to see what they would do,” says Pietroluongo.
“I saw them three times and then I lost them completely. They didn’t go back to the Grand Canal, so we hope they took the right direction.”
They are believed to have returned safely to the Adriatic Sea.
The CERT team was on alert to be called back on Tuesday, but was not noticed.
“We hope they are free now in their environment,” he says.
A rare observation
The couple swims past the famous Salute church.
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Striped dolphins – as the CERT team believes, after watching the filming – are a rare sight in the northern Adriatic. Deep-water mammals are usually found in the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas and in the southern half of the Adriatic, says Pietroluongo. Moreover, they usually swim in pods of up to 100, not in pairs, and stay away from the shoreline. The last time one was seen in the lagoon of Venice was four years ago; snout dolphins are seen more regularly.
The group believes that this couple could have lost their way while looking for food. “They could have chased prey in the middle of the Adriatic, pushed north, and suddenly found themselves in Venice,” he says.
Or who knows – maybe they also wanted a chance to see the empty, blocked city, which toured social media again.
Pietroluongo calls the look “happy.” Meanwhile, Luca Folin, who filmed the video of the creatures in the Grand Canal, called it “a beautiful and rare moment … in a sad moment”.
“I uploaded it on social media without thinking it would go around the world,” he says.
“To be honest, I posted it to greet my fellow citizens in such a sad year – but making the video go viral is beautiful, because it means I made others smile.”