Are any animals benefitting from coronavirus lockdowns?

Some of the heart-warming stories about nature thriving during lockdown, like the claim that dolphins had returned to the canals of Venice, aren't true. But others do stand up.

For example, there is evidence that wild bees will benefit from the decline In air pollution, which can disrupt their ability to smell flowers at a distance. And, anecdotally, some wild animals are venturing into cities, including wild cats. “Some people have seen caracals in their garden or crossing their gardens,” says Marine Drouilly at the Panthera charity, who is based in South Africa.

The International Bio-Logging Society is organising a global study of data from camera traps and other tracking devices to see if wild animals really are shifting their ranges, but the results may not be available for two years.

We do know, however, that the oceans are quieter and that is likely to be good for wildlife. In Alaska, cruises have been cancelled because of covid-19. “There's been no large vessel traffic, and we're not expecting any until at least late July,” says Christine Gabriele at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The only boats on the move are small local ones.

Gabriele is engaged in a multi-decade study of humpback whales in the area. A key element is monitoring how they call amid the underwater noise caused by heavy boat traffic, using a hydrophone anchored to the bottom of the ocean at the mouth of Glacier Bay.

It is early days, but Gabriele says the quieter waters caused by the cruise cancellations may mean the whales can spread out more widely: "They'll be able to communicate with each other over much greater distances than they would be if it was a noisy environment” . They may also be able to communicate for longer, using more complex vocalisations.

Gabriele is hopeful that the quiet will be good for the local humpback whales, whose population has been falling since 2013 .

“If it's a productive summer and a quiet summer, that will be a real advantage to this population that's been going through some really tough times,” she says.