The Pororoca, a tidal bore on the Amazon.
Twice a year, during the biannual equinox when the moon, sun, and earth are all aligned, a tidal bore of unmatched strength marches up the Amazon river. Known as the Pororoca, the wave is created when the tide pushes up the river, against its natural current. When the tide is at its peak, the bore is at its strongest. And on March 23, it will be exceptionally strong because of the full moon lining up with the equinox–good news for Amazon River surfers.
While the tidal bore can happen every day, September and March are the months when it is at its most powerful. Back in 2003, a Brazilian named Serginho Laus rode a tidal bore in the Araguari, a river in the Brazilian Amazon basin. He stayed on it for over half and hour, and traveled an astonishing 6.3 miles. And this month, people that live along the Amazon are battening down the hatches in preparation for a big one. The pororoca is a dangerous wave. It’s not just the force of the wave itself, but what comes with it. “These rivers carry the blood of a breathing jungle,” wrote Joanna Kline in the New York Times. “You’re the stranger in a land of jaguars, crocodiles, snakes, piranhas, parasites and tropical diseases.”
Tidal bores tear up trees by their roots, pull massive chunks of mud and rock from the edge of the river, and pull animals unlucky enough to be on the leading edge into their swift current. Scavenging animals like piranhas and crocodiles commonly follow tidal bores, collecting dead and injured animals in it their wake. According to local legend, the wave is created by three trouble-making children that swim up the river wreaking havoc on those that live along it.
Wave dependent, the 2016 Pororoca Municipal Surf Championship will start its four days of competition sometime this month. Fifteen local surfers will vie for for the trophy in one of the strangest surfing events on the planet.
