Venice’s green-glowing Grand Canal might’ve been caused by environmental activists
Tourists and locals were perplexed when the water in a stretch of Venice’s Grand Canal glowed bright green recently. A chemical used for water testing was to blame.
The green glow in parts of the Grand Canal lasted from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time Sunday.
The chemical cause of the color change was found to be fluorescein, which is used professionally to trace water.
Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic in northeast Italy, does not have a traditional sewage system. Everything that ends up in sinks or toilets flows to the city’s network of canals.
The fluorescein that produces the green coloration can be bought online. Experts don’t think the incident was accidental; whereas a teaspoon is capable of coloring 20 liters of water, a much larger dosage was found in the Grand Canal.
An avenue explored by local police is that it was a stunt by environmental activists, an idea with historical precedent: In 1968, during Venice’s Biennale art expo, Argentine artist Nicolas Uriburu turned the canal water green to promote ecological awareness.
