Amazon Estuary: The World's Mightiest River at Its Mouth
Macapá sits at the Amazon's mouth — the river estuary here is 300 km wide, the freshwater detectable 300 km into the Atlantic; the ecological complexity of the world's largest river delta surrounds the city
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Marajó Island across the estuary
The island of Marajó - larger than Switzerland - lies across the estuary from Macapá; the world's largest river island, with its water buffalo, clay pottery and indigenous culture, is visible from Amapá's shore
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Fresh water meets the sea
The Amazon carries 20% of all freshwater in the world's rivers — the "meeting of the waters" with the Atlantic Ocean creates a freshwater zone that extends hundreds of kilometers into the ocean; a biological phenomenon unlike any other
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Amazon Pink Dolphin
Boto (pink river dolphin) lives in the Amazon estuary around Macapá — the largest river dolphin on Earth, these extraordinary animals navigate the flooded forests and are central to Amazonian mythology
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Tidal Bore (Pororoca)
São Marcos Bay near Macapá produces the pororoca – a tidal bore that travels up Amazon tributaries as a 4-meter wall of water as the tide pushes against the river flow; surfers ride it for kilometers
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Flooded forest (Várzea)
The Várzea — the seasonally flooded forest of the Amazon — is one of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems; The várzea forests of the Macapá region are flooded for 6 months annually, completely changing the landscape
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Fishing on the Amazon
Amazon fisheries around Macapá are among the world's most productive — pirarucu, tucunaré and tambaqui fish feed the city and surrounding communities in a fishing economy that has sustained Amazonian life for millennia