The pandemic and our ecological sins

People gather at a beach of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (Photo: AFP)

In mid-April, a biologist filmed a heartwarming video of a jellyfish gliding through clean waterways with reflections of the grand places of Venice, the Italian city that used to be one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

Venice has been deserted since pandemic-stricken Italy went into lockdown on March 9. The jellyfish video went viral on social media and some were elated that nature was taking back the city.

Venice, a world heritage site, is fondly called one of the most romantic cities in Europe thanks to its environmental, architectural and cultural attractions. Its heritage has also become a burden given that an estimated 30 million tourists visit every year.

Venice gasped as the water in its canals became turbid through the endless movement of speeding boats and cruise ships. In addition to pollution by tourism, petrochemical discharges from nearby Porto Marghera industrial zone were also blamed for damaging its ecology.

Thousands of miles away, Bangladesh’s beach city of Cox’s Bazar has also experienced a natural revival since the country went into a nationwide Covid-19 shutdown on March 26.

After many years, dolphins were spotted playing in the Bay of Bengal near empty beaches in April. Sagorlota (beach morning glory), a key component of beach ecology, returned and flourished. The herb, also known as railroad vine, was thought to be have become extinct in Cox’s Bazar due to unrestrained movement of tourists, pollution and the construction of buildings along the beaches.

While Cox’s Bazar does not attract many foreign tourists, it is the most popular destination for Bangladeshi tourists, who care too little for the world’s longest unbroken stretch of sandy beaches and leave them covered in litter.

The natural reset in Venice, Cox’s Bazar and other parts of the world might be one of the few positive aspects in this time of great difficulties for the world.