On Sunday 12 March around 400 people gathered on the banks of the River Durme in Hamme (East Flanders) to witness a strange, impressive yet very rare natural phenomenon; a tidal bore, also known as a 'mascaret' in French.
What happened? Normally a change in the direction of current, from ebb to flow, happens due to the influence of tides and cannot be seen. Through the combination of spring tide and a new or full moon however, in Durme this occurs in the shape of a tidal bore. This is caused by strong rising water in places where at low tide the river has become very shallow. Depending on the conditions this wave can be higher or lower by a few centimetres or by up to 30cm. Sometimes you can even hear it flooding in from more than 100m away. The best time to see the mascaret on the Durme is during the summer months or early autumn. It is an unpredictable event however, meaning that you are never quite sure of when and how it will take place.
This natural phenomenon is unique in Belgium and can also be observed in a handful of other places in Europe, namely in France, the UK and Ireland.
The best place to observe the bore is on the so-called Mirabrug (Mira Bridge) over the Durme, right on the border between the municipalities of Hamme and Waasmunster. The bridge is well known from the classic Flemish film Mira (1971), based on Stijn Streuvels' novel De Teleurgang van den Waterhoek (1927).
