Tidal waves that run up rivers. An amazing natural event that you can surf
I'm absolutely fascinated by Tidal Bores these huge tidal waves that race up river estuaries are source of excitement wonder and for some even water sport!
I first knew about them when the famous bore in the UK's longest river The River Severn was featured on the news.
Whilst they can be dangerous they are not be confused with open water tidal waves or Tsunami. River bores are caused by natural tide action.
Because of this they are predictable and timetables exist to help you plan your viewing.
There are many rivers around the world where tidal bores occur from the Ganges in India, the Dee in Scotland, the Daly river in Australia, the Seine in France, the Bay of Funday Nova Scotia.
The world's largest is Qiantang River in China. (see image above)
image credit FWP China
Aegir
The alternative name for 'tidal bore'
Aegir is the Norse god of the seas. The name roughly translates as terror.
Princeton.edu define an Aegir as a:
"tidal bore: a high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary)"
In the UK the tidal bore on the river Trent is still known as the Trent Aegir. It doesn't reach as far inland as my home town of Nottingham and can be viewed from these locations. See The Trent Aegir.
The Severn Bore
The tidal bore on Britain's longest river
image credit Metro
Even though I have lived in England for many years, I have never seen the Severn Bore. This is something I'd really like to do.
It should be a great place to take photgraphs and I hope to get some amazing shots.
This site carries the latest information and timetables The Severn Bore
Severn Bore Photos
My new favourite thi...
The Severn Bore
Opposite bank
Farm house
More people
Fruit season
Fruit
Mikey & Louise
Mikey, Louise &...
People gatherting
Fancy Surfing the Bore?
Here's how...plus lots of other useful facts
The Mighty Severn Bore
Amazon Price: (as of 12/22/2009)
The Worlds Biggest Bore
Not a time to yawn!
image credit Chinese Tools
The noise of the Qiantang River bore in China can be heard 15 miles away!
The wave has killed thousands of unwary sight seers over the years. As many as 10,000 people lost their live in one tidal surge and 87 people were washed away and drowned in 2002.
The wave reaches 30 feet high!
Surfing the Quiantang Tube
Surfing China's Qiantang River Tidal Bore, Hangzhou - September, 2008
Top professional big wave surfers head to the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, China to surf the world's largest tidal bore--known as the "Silver Dragon." Greg Long, Rusty Long, and Mark Healey wow the masses at the annual Tidal Bore Wave Watching Festival in Hangzhou and make surfing history! Gerard Sports Marketing (GSM) has teamed up with Chinese partner, Wabsono International--and the Chinese government--to bring the sport of surfing to the Chinese people. Everyday--twice a day--in the City of Hangzhou (pronounced "han-joe"), a tidal bore wave rolls upstream on the Qiantang (pronounced "kwin-tang") River. And each year, in September, the wave is at its largest. To witness this awesome sight, hundreds of thousands of Chinese people come to the annual Wave Watching Festival in Hangzhou. And this year, they're here to see surfing for the very first time. For this trip, we brought the Long brothers, and Mark Healey. The purpose of this trip was to demonstrate to the Chinese government that surfing on the river was feasible... and that the idea of broadening the annual festival to include surfing is a good one. This year's surfing event was a huge success. In fact, the day of the festival, it was a top story on the Chinese national news channel (CCTV)--and was viewed by approximately 1/2 the entire Chinese population! GSM and Wabsono have signed a long term exclusive rights deal with the City of Hangzhou to develop the surfing festival concept. The plan is to include industry brands and promote the sport to the Chinese people.
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The Biggest Bore in North America
Have a funday at Fundy
image credit Bay of Fundy Tourism
The Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia is renowed for natural beauty, very hides tides and a dramatic tidal bore that runs up several rivers in the area.
Perhaps the most famous river in the Bay of Fundy is the Shebenacadie River which is used for thrill seeking rafting when the bore hits.
The blog Bay of Fundy Blog tells you about some of the rafting businesses that will take you on the Shubenacedie for the ride of your life!
Rafting Vacation
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The Pororoca
The Amazon's tidal bore
This amazing photo is one of several superb images that can be found at Fogonazos
The Pororoca generates waves up to 112 feet high and travels up to 13 kilometers inland.
The name comes from the native Tupi Indian poroc poroc which means 'Big Roar' and it certainly is because it can be heard coming up to 30 minutes before it reaches you!
Poroc Poroc!
tidal bore surfing
surfing the tidal bore, called the pororoca, on the amazon river in brazil. what a weird and amazing wave! this is the cleanest i've ever seen it. wikipedia has added a brief entry about the phenomenon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pororoca
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Did You Know?
Writer Somerset Maugham was nearly drowned by a tidal bore in the 1940s during a visit to Sarawak.
The tidal bores occur on two rivers the Batang Lupar the one Maugham nearly drowned in and the Batang Sadong
The tidal bore of the Batang Lupar is known locally as the 'Benak'. There are some great images here Sarawak
Maugham wrote about the Betang Lupar incident that caught him and friend Gerald Haxton in the short story The Yellow Streak which can be found in:
Maugham's Borneo Stories:
Six Stories
(Writing in Asia Series)
A Not So Boring List
Learn more about tidal bores with these links
- Tsunami-Like River Tides Are Surfing's New Frontier
- National Geographic article
- Tidal Bore Research Society
- Their aim is to " collate all the factual evidence available on the world's bores, so that the mighty roars of the pororoca, mascaret, benak, aegir and of course the colossal dragon, will be known around the world for a long time to come.
- Tidal Bore Danger
- Near disaster in June 2000 on the Qiantang river. Amazing video!
Tidal Bore News
- 57-foot schooner to serve as backdrop for new cooking show
- Marty Ettinger has done a myriad of interesting things so far in his life, from dogsled racing to tidal bore rafting. This spring, however, he will embark ...
- Murdoch's diverting tiff with Google
- And then there is the demographic change that is about to bear down on us like an enormous tidal bore of obliteration ? the rise of the 10-year-old digital ...
- Video B-Roll available via CNW - Yang Yang, Chinese Olympic superstar, carries ...
- Video package contains footage of Yang Yang carrying the flame in PEI and enjoying summer and winter experiences including tidal bore rafting, ...
- Canadian flag bearer carriers burden
- So while every Canadian athlete will be under tidal pressure at these home Games ? it says here that dealing with expectations will be as important as ...
The Tide Is Hi!
Have you seen one? Tell us your experiences.
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Reply
- kimmanleyort kimmanleyort Aug 20, 2009 @ 4:19 pm
- I didn't know much about tidal bores but these are fascinating. Great lens. 5*
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- GrowWear GrowWear Aug 19, 2009 @ 10:50 pm
- Tidal bores are fascinating. Great introduction lens!
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- puzzlemaker puzzlemaker Aug 19, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
- I've heard of these but didn't know the name "Tidal Bore". Very interesting and unique event. Great topic for a lens. Lensrolling to my Tide Clocks. 5*'s.
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- Stazjia Stazjia Aug 19, 2009 @ 3:54 am
- I did my degree in Geography which involved field trips paddling about in rivers measuring things so I'm a bit of an anorak about all of this. In spite of this and living in Wiltshire and so within reasonable travelling distance of the River Severn, I've never seen the bore there except on the local TV news. One day I'll be organised enough to be there to see it.
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