MILAN, Italy — Venice has been charmed by a recent visitor: an acrobatic wild dolphin. The feeling appears to be mutual — he so far refuses to leave — but proximity to humans has put him in danger.
The dolphin nicknamed Mimmo has been delighting tourists and Venetians for months with his acrobatic flips. Experts are now eager to move him into open water, especially after verifying wounds indicating that the dolphin had likely been hit by a boat propeller.
Multiple agencies used low-intensity acoustic devices to nudge Mimmo away from the heavily trafficked St. Mark’s Basin on Saturday — and it worked briefly. But the dolphin came back within an hour, as experts feared he would.
“It’s very worrying because it’s a hot spot with lots of boat traffic,’’ said Guido Pietroluongo, a veterinarian at the University of Padua’s emergency response team for stranded dolphins, whales and porpoises, known as CERT.
St. Mark’s Basin, the shallow expanse of water in front of St. Mark’s Square connecting to both the Giudecca and Grand canals, is heavily trafficked by ferries, vaporetti buses, water taxis and private boats.
During the failed operation, experts confirmed Mimmo had suffered superficial lesions, likely from a boat propeller, Pietroluongo said. It was the first time they had noted injuries to the dolphin, and his wounds are expected to heal fully. But experts are worried about his continued safety in such proximity to human activity.
They don’t plan any immediate action, and are hoping that colder seasonal temperatures will lure him, and his fish prey, out of the lagoon toward warmer waters, Pietroluongo said.
Mimmo’s arrival in the Venetian lagoon was registered on July 23, and experts say the coastal creature likely followed a school of fish into the brackish waters separated from the open sea by barrier islands. He was nicknamed for the sailing instructor who first spotted him off the Venetian lagoon fishing town of Chioggia.
Mimmo follows the pattern of a so-called social loner, typically a young male dolphin that breaks away from the pod for food or for social reasons and then comes into contact with the human world, said Sandro Mazzariol, a CERT veterinarian.
“Around 100 cases have been documented around the world in which these animals are absolutely at ease and remain healthy despite not interacting with their peers,’’ Mazzariol said in a Facebook video post.
Dolphin sightings in Venice are rare but not unheard of, Mazzariol said.
The most recent incident involved a pair of striped dolphins spotted in February 2021 that were quickly guided back to the open sea with acoustic devices. They never returned.
Mimmo has been closely monitored during his lagoon sojourn, and has been reported in good health and nutrition as he feasts on a diet befitting any Venetian tourist: mullet, sea bass and sea bream. His behavior has also been deemed normal, including his playful aerial flips.
The University of Padua team has been going out weekly to check on the animal, and they get regular updates from citizens who share sightings, including photos and videos.
Authorities are warning citizens and boaters that feeding or otherwise interacting with the dolphin is a criminal offense. Dolphins are protected under Italian, EU and international law. But the fact that Mimmo’s fame is spreading is part of the problem.
“The dolphin has become an attraction. Boats stopping to watch him can stress the animal,’’ Pietroluongo said.
Barry writes for the Associated Press.
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