Recent experiments in the actinide region, using Gammasphere and the evaporation residue detector Hercules, have covered the territory between N = 126 and the center of static octupole deformation at N = 134. The 220Th nucleus, its lighter N = 130 isotones, and the neighboring 219Th isotope show a peculiar behavior: the octupole bands are vibrational-like [i.e. Eγ(E2) ≈ const.], and their B(E1)/B(E2) ratios exhibit a spin-dependent staggering. The behavior has been described, based on a phonon picture developed by Frauendorf, as a constant-frequency tidal-wave mode for a reflection-asymmetric nuclear surface. The 219Th level scheme deserves also attention in a different context, namely that of parity doublets. The discussion will conclude with a brief mentioning of observed and predicted cases for reflection-symmetric tidal waves in other mass regions.