Most non-essential travel to countries in the European Union is banned and Italy, the epicentre of the outbreak on the continent, has closed all businesses aside from food stores, pharmacies and public offices.

Entire cities and towns across the country have become eerily empty as people are confined to their homes, while major tourist sites are astoundingly free from crowds.

In Venice, canals that are normally teeming with tourists and boat traffic are nearly empty.

With humans locked away, the animals have come out to play.

Photos and video footage on social media show clear water and the appearance of wildlife that usually keeps a safe distance from water traffic on the Italian coast and in Venice’s canals.

Dolphins have begun to swim in the typically murky canals, joined by schools of fish and even swans.

“Venice hasn’t seen clear canal water in a very long time,” one local Tweeted.

“Dolphins showing up, too. Nature just hit the reset button on us.”

Another user wrote: “Ducks in the fountains in Rome, Venice canals have now clean water full of fishes. Air pollution dropped. Nature is reclaiming its spaces during quarantine in Italy.”

The Space Academy shared a video on Twitter of a canal showing the transparent water.

“After a week of lockdown... The canals in Venice are all clear and full of fishes. Kinda gives you the idea what will happen to Earth without humans!” it tweeted.

Elsewhere in Italy, data from the European Space Agency (ESA) has demonstrated a distinct drop in the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide between the months of January and March, when the outbreak began in the countries north.

For some, the footage of nature flourishing is a small sign of hope as Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus reached almost 3000 on Wednesday.

But the Venice mayor’s office told CNN that while the canals might look clearer than before the quarantine measures took effect, the water quality hasn’t necessarily improved. 

“The water now looks clearer because there is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom,” a spokesman told CNN. 

“It’s because there is less [of the] 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.” 

It’s incredible to see how quickly and easily nature can adapt to the changing of human behaviour.

Hopefully, this is something the world can remember once the coronavirus pandemic is over, and something we can all learn from to ensure the survival of our environment.