This February 16, 2020 file photo shows the the Agua Dulce public beach packed with thousands of beachgoers in Lima, Peru. Agua Dulce beach is usually a sea of humanity, packed with as many as 40,000 people a day at the height of Peru's Southern Hemisphere summer, which runs from December to March.
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The new coronavirus pandemic has changed all that. Peru's President Martmn Vizcarra declared a state of emergency as deaths began to mount and ordered people to stay home, largely emptying the beach of people.
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A row of public showers (above) typically overflowing with beachgoers, at Agua Dulce beach. A kilometer-long strip of grayish-brown sand, 20 kilometers south of central Lima is normally a haven for the working classes, a place where visitors from the Andean highlands first dip a toe in the sea.
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Densely thronged pedestrian bridges are all but empty.
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But in recent days, an army of seabirds has claimed the sandy territory abandoned by people.
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Instead of chaotic human footprints, the beach is tattooed with the tracks of gulls and pelicans.
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Police officers who recently monitored the beach for unlicensed vendors catering to the crowds now walk along the empty beach to warn off would-be swimmers. Those caught out are usually let go with a warning.
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Thousands of birds line the shore at Agua Dulce beach.
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A lone sandal on the shore of Agua Dulce beach that is typically packed to the gills this time of year, in Lima.
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A carcass surrounded by traces of bird tracks on the shore of Agua Dulce beach in Lima.
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