As our boat sailed slowly by the marshes along the delta we listened to the story about how the delta came to be. This is what we learned- about 600 years ago the Venezia Lagoon was starting to get more closed in by the building up of land and shallower waters created by shifting sediment. The Venetian merchants didn’t like this as it was eventually going to cut them off from trading routes so they came together with a plan to move the flow of the river, thus move the sediment. About 6,000 inmates were taken to a point on the Po River and they manually dug a new canal that created a new 7km path for the river to shift sediment settlement away from the lagoon. The result not only kept the lagoon more open but also caused new land masses, created by sediment to rise up (it is gaining an estimated 200 acres per year), along the modified river route. Some of the ancient, once port, regions along the Po are now up to 10 km from the Adriatic Sea. This land mass is fertile rich soil and is today a place of agriculture, fishing and bird sanctuary. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a protected nature reserve.

As we sailed along we could see a few spots where it looks like some new land is starting to appear. Along the way we also watched as Harrier birds hunted their prey, and other birds like egrets and herons flying around the reeds in the marshes.

Later in the day our ship sailed back towards Venezia docking where we started our cruise journey. It was a warm late afternoon so we took advantage and went for a walk along the canal before dinner time.