“The wave brings to us this kind of request for listening, to listen to the language of nature—to understand the language of nature, which is enabled by the silencing of the human mind,” said Hauley Silva Valim, an anthropologist, surfer and alchemist who was he primary architect of the law.

The wave pictured here just became the only wave in the world to possess its own individual rights. It is now considered a "person" in the eyes of the law and, with the help of human advocates, it can bring cases against those who harm it and the entire river ecosystem of which it is a part.