Venetian canals are the clearest they have been in living memory after Italy‘s coronavirus lockdown stopped boats from bringing sediment to the surface.

In a rare welcome side-effect of the health crisis, the usually murky waterways are clear enough to see the schools of fish under the water.

White swans are also roaming the canals in a city where the usually overloaded piazzas and alleyways have become almost deserted, while air pollution has declined across northern Italy.

With no tourists taking gondola rides along the canals, the sediment in the water has been able to settle at the bottom without being churned about – making the surface clearer.

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One Venetian local, Marco Capovilla, said he ‘had never seen’ the water so clear after filming some of the fish under the surface.

‘The water now looks clearer because there is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom,’ a spokesman for the Venice mayor’s office told CNN.

‘It’s because there is less boat traffic that usually brings sediment to the top of the water’s surface.’

‘The air, however, is less polluted since there are less vaporetti and boat traffic than usual because of the restricted movement of residents.’

Read more: daily mail