(CNN) – It was one of the videos that went viral during the first blockade of 2020, cheering everyone up while sitting at home: a dolphin swimming close to the surface in what appeared to be a Venetian canal.
Of course it was false – he ended up being shot near the port of Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia.
But on Monday, two dolphins actually made a day trip to Venice.
They took a trip to the famous Grand Canal, before swimming to Giudecca Island, where they saw no less than two churches by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, before returning home to the Adriatic Sea.
The visit came when the city is in another blockade as Italy struggles 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 down the iconic canal towards the famous Salute church, where Busetto’s team – now stationed to start work – timed them again.
“But they were also in great danger because of all the boats coming and going, which could have hurt them with their propellers.” The group tried to stop traffic while waiting for the police to arrive.
The rescue mission
The CERT team looks for dolphins in the Venice lagoon.
CERT
“The traffic was intense and we realized that the dolphins were completely disoriented, swimming in all directions, mainly because they were afraid,” Guido Pietroluongo, of the group, told CNN.
“The dolphins are mainly oriented by sound, but here, the two sides of the canal had walls and there were boats everywhere. The authorities said they were stuck there for two hours, swimming and spinning.”
And then, to the rescue. The CERT team – led by Professor Sandro Mazzariol – coordinated nine boats from the Venice authorities on a chain, trying to steer the animals towards the Lido, the long stretch of Venice beach and a point where the Venetian lagoon meets the Adriatic Sea. It took two and a half hours.
“Time and again, a raft would cut the chain so that 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, towards the Lido.
“We realized that the animals were at the safest point and we wanted to see what they would do,” says Pietroluongo.
“We caught sight of them three times and then lost them completely. They had not returned to the Grand Canal, so hopefully they took the right direction.”
They are believed to have returned safely to the Adriatic.
The CERT team was on alert to be called back on Tuesday, but there were no sightings.
“Hopefully they are free in their environment now,” he says.
A rare sighting
The pair swim by the back of the famous Salute church.
CERT
Striped dolphins – as the CERT team believes they are, after watching the footage – are rare to be seen 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. Furthermore, they generally swim in groups of up to 100, not in pairs, and are far from the shore. The last time one was seen in the Venice lagoon was four years ago; bottlenose dolphins are seen more regularly.
The group thinks that this couple may have been lost while looking for food. “They could be following prey in the middle of the Adriatic, pushing north and suddenly meeting in Venice,” he says.
Or who knows – maybe they also wanted a chance to see the empty, closed city that was circulating on social media again.
Pietroluongo calls the sighting “cheerful”. Meanwhile, Luca Folin, who filmed the video of the creatures on 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 to give a good greeting to my fellow citizens in such a sad year – but having the video go viral is good because it means I made others smile.”