A solitary dolphin has been living in St Mark’s Basin since the summer of 2025, dodging the intense traffic and enjoying a rich supply of Adriatic seafood. Many people have witnessed the graceful creature sparkling between the waves and surrounded by spectacular architecture.
The Natural History Museum of Venice and the Cetacean Strandings Emergency Response Team at Padua University have been monitoring the animal’s wellbeing and providing necessary guidance on safety measures, but a specific and critical aspect has not yet been highlighted. It concerns the health of the lagoon and what the presence of the dolphin tells us about it: dolphins are marine creatures that live in deep waters where they belong to a food web that is characteristic of the same. A lagoon, separated from the sea by barrier islands, is a transitional zone at the intersection of marine and estuarine systems characterized by relatively shallow, muddy waters and a completely different ecology.
Lagoons are also ephemeral environments that, over time, either silt up with the accumulation of river sediments and eventually extend the land area; or they undergo erosion and merge with the adjacent sea. The city of Ravenna, for example, lies several kilometres from the sea but was once the coastal capital of the Western Roman Empire (in the fifth century). Over time, the river sediments amassed to form a large area of additional solid land that now separates it from the coast.
Meanwhile, in Venice, urban development and lagoon interventions, over a similar period, have altered the interactions between physical forces like tides and waves, sediments and ecological dynamics to ensure the permanence of the lagoon and all its functions. Over 500 years ago, the main rivers were diverted to limit sediment buildup in the Venice lagoon. Port expansion especially since late last century intensified sediment loss and put the lagoon on a trajectory towards “marinization” that couldn’t be more clearly illustrated than by the dolphin’s arrival in the city. While it’s perfectly possible to love a dolphin, it isnt appropriate to love dolphins in the lagoon.
Improving the health of the lagoon needs to be a priority for Venice. After many years, the erosion caused by the main shipping canal is finally being addressed and We are here Venice is undertaking projects that demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative nature-based approaches to salt marsh reconstruction, repair, monitoring and management. Instead of dolphins, can we celebrate the expanding winter population of flamingos in the lagoon, according to the latest data provided by the census coordinated by Alessandro Sartori and Emanuele Stival.
