Vieira Grande Bay ( Portuguese: ''Baía do Vieira Grande'') is a bay off the Brazilian coast located in the state of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

. The bay forms one of the main river channels in the Amazon Delta. The bay is fed in the South by the

Jacaré Grande River The Jacaré Grande River () is a river in the Pará state of north-central Brazil. It is considered an extension of the Rio Pará distribution channel. The Jacaré Grande River rises on the island of Marajó in the delta region where the Amazon Ri ...

and by a complex system of numerous river channels that are called ''furos'' in Portuguese. These channels form a link between the Amazon and the Vieira Grande Bay. The influence of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

waters can be shown for example through the occurrence of the

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater Aquatic ecosystem, ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), mea ...

'' Thalassionema nitzschioides'' in the bay. Further downstream, the bay is lined on the Western side by a string of islands, of which Serraria is the largest. These islands separate the bay from the main channel of the Amazon. In the East, the bay is bordered by the North-Western coast of the island

Marajó Marajó () is a large coastal island in the state of Pará, Brazil. It is the main and largest of the islands in the Marajó Archipelago. Marajó Island is separated from the mainland by Marajó Bay, Pará River, smaller rivers (especially M ...

, where it touches the municipalities of Chaves and Afuá. The town of Afuá is built on

stilt Stilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. They are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates. They have extremely long legs, hence the grou ...

s because high waters in the Bay cause the rivers surrounding it to rise. Part of this coastline is included in the Charapucu State Park. The Cajari River enters into the bay here. Finally in the North, the Amazon has split up into several large river channels. The bay meets up with its South Channel (''Canal Sul'') off the coast of the island

Caviana Caviana (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Ilha Caviana'', formerly in Aruã language: ''Uyruma'') is a coastal island in the Brazilian state Pará. The island is part of the Amazon Delta. In the 17th and 18th Century it was the stronghold of the ...

. At this point, there is a sandbank called Camaleão that is exposed during low tide. It links together some smaller islets, such as Ilha das Pacas, Camaleão, Camaleãozinho and Jacuraru. The area covered by the bay used to be a swampy lake, which is now gradually filling up with water, causing the bay to widen over time. The bay is now deeper than the main channel of the Amazon. The Aruã people used to live on its banks. On the coast near Chaves, ceramic fragments could be found that relate to them, but the advance of the bay washed them away. The bay is contained in the Marajó Archipelago Environmental Protection Area, a sustainable-use conservation unit established in 1989 to protect the environment of the region.

References

{{Reflist Bays of Brazil Geography of Pará