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In June 2022, an image showing a series of waves was circulated on social media along with the claim that the series, known as Chicama, was the longest in the world and the only one to be protected by law. The above-displayed meme reads: It is called Chicama, it occurs at a single point on the Peruvian coast, and it is the only wave in the world that is protected by law. Nothing can be built within a radius of two kilometers from that place, so that noting can affect its natural formation. This image has been floating around the internet for years and is often accompanied by the claim that it shows the longest wave in the world. While there is some truth to this meme (a famous and legally protected surfing spot can be found off the coast of Chicama, Peru), it also gets plenty wrong. For starters, this is a digitally edited composite image, not a genuine photograph of Chicama. This image has been circulating online since at least 2016. While it is often shared as if it is from the famous Peruvian surfing spot, it's actually a composite created by artist Ashley Bickerton. Bickerton told Wave Length Magazine in 2021 that he used photographs of the Impossibles, a set of waves off the coast of Bali, Indonesia, and Photoshop in order to create the above-displayed image that he then calls Endless Waves. Bickerton said: All were shots of ‘Imposibles’, a wave I know very well having owned one of the original shacks in front of the break for years. What I have learned in Photoshop is that it is most effective not to add too much of one’s own information, but to source from multiple images of the same subject, shot from the same vantage point, and with more or less consistent lighting. There are actually several versions of the image floating around out there, all at different stages of development. While Bickerton used photographs of the Impossibles to create this image, it is almost always shared online as if it shows the waves off the coast of Chicama. However, when you look at genuine photographs of Chicama, you can see that the landscape of that location doesn't match the scene in the viral image. Most notably, the Chicama waves break next to coastal cliffs. Flickr photographer Jonathan captured this image of Chicama in 2012: While we can't definitively answer this question, we can say that it's not much of a stretch to call the wave series off the coast of Chicama the longest in the word. One reason this location is famous among surfers is because these waves can be ridden for minutes, rather than seconds, down the coast of Peru. In March 2020, NASA Earth Observatory published an article that stated while there was no way to know for sure, Chicama is certainly among the longest in the world. Ley de Rompientes, or law of the breakers, is a law in Peru that aims to protect the country's coastal waves. In 2016, Chicama became the first surf spot to be officially registered under this law for legal protection. The BBC reported: While Chicama (series) was the first wave to be granted legal protections, it wasn't the last. Dozens of other surf spots along the Peruvian coast have also been added to this list. It should also be noted that while Chicama is considered to be the first wave to be protected by laws, other countries have taken other approaches to protecting coastal areas. Australia and the United States, for example, have both created surfing reserves to protect parts of their coastlines. In Mexico, the Arroyo San Miguel State Park was created in part to protect the surfing area off the coast of Baja California.
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