Blooming of river Tisa

Blooming of the Tisa river attracts a large number of visitors, who view this romantic and natural phenomenon from boats and ships, followed by entertainment program.

The blooming of the Tisa River is a natural phenomenon that is 200,000 years old and only occurs on the Tisa and the Chinese river Yangtze. In our waters there are several species of insects from the family of mayflies, but their contours and bridal flight is not as attractive and dramatic as the Tisa mayflies’. The Tisa mayfly is the largest species of mayflies in Europe with its 8-10 centimetres length. Unlike most aquatic insects, its swarms never leave water, but constantly touch the water surface. After three years of life as a larva and about 20 moulting, these insects of golden yellow bodies, large black eyes, fluttering with silky wings, complete their earthly mission in only a few hours. At the end of the wedding dance, the males die, and then the females too, sometime before the dusk after laying eggs, while there remain their bodies like flowers on the surface of the river, which is a truly breath-taking scene. Several millions of fertilized eggs begin a new three-year development cycle in the bottom clay of the Tisa. The most massive blooming of the Tisa in our area is usually in Kanjiža, Senta and Novi Bečej. In these cities, an observation of the blooming from boats and ships is organised every year with fireworks in the evening. The Tisa mayfly has survived the dinosaurs, but the mankind hardly. Decades ago, they were spread across all major rivers of Europe, but the pollution of nature has almost destroyed this colourful event. The Tisa mayfly could have survived with a larger population in the clay riverbed of the meander upstream from Senta and Kanjiža.