Photo: Emiliano Arano/Pexels
The Brazilian city of Linhares has legally recognized its waves as living beings, marking the first known time part of the ocean has been granted legal personhood. A new law gives the waves at the mouth of the Doce River the intrinsic right to existence, regeneration, and restoration. Linhares has also appointed guardians to act as their representatives in public decision-making. The prized waves are long and tubular and famous worldwide. But about eight years ago, the local surf community began noticing changes, and two of the waves eventually stopped breaking altogether. The Mariana dam, which held back waste from an iron ore mine near the inland city of Mariana, collapsed, sending mud and mining waste down the Doce River. Only after a major flood in 2022 did these waves return.
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