The allure of sun, sand and the ocean are synonymous with summer.
The beach can provide us with a calm, peaceful retreat, playful childhood memories or an adventurous outing.
But a simple shift in wind direction can transform tranquil lapping waves into a roaring intense surf.
When the waves get large and a surf forms, strong rip currents will forms as well,
creating dangerous conditions for swimmers.
As waves crash onto the shore, their natural motion is to retreat back to the ocean. Waves travel in circular motions.
However, sometimes man-made and natural barriers, like piers and sandbars, block the seaward motion of the waves.
The trapped water forms a current that flows along the shore, searching for a break in the barrier.
When this break occurs, the constricted current flows quickly seaward.
This fast moving seaward current is called a rip current.
One of the myths about rip currents is that they are the same as undertows or rip tides.
A rip current will not pull you underwater; they are narrow, strong currents that pull you away from shore.
Not all rip currents look the same. Although some are well formed,
most are unstable and difficult for the average person to see.
Some cues you can look for are the color of the water and variations in wave patterns.
Since rip currents create a channel of water, the water may appear darker in color.
It may also be demarked with churned up sand, foam or debris moving in a seaward direction.
The channels are generally narrow, less than 10 meters wide.
Look for variations in wave patterns, such as choppy water, leading to a plume beyond the breakers or sandbars.
Be careful of areas of calm water amidst the surf. The unassuming calm water may lure people to swim there
but the calm water likely represents deep rip currents and can be very dangerous.
Most people realize they are in a rip current when they feel themselves being pulled along the shore or in a
seaward direction. Rip currents will often have long-shore or lateral currents that lead into the seaward rip current.
When you are knee deep in the water, ask yourself, do you feel the water pulling at you?
Don’t panic & Don’t fight it. A rip current will not take you miles off shore.
The strength of the current will lessen the further away from the shore you are.
Some very strong rip currents may extend 300 meters off shore, but most will end just past the breaking waves.
A natural reaction when being pulled away from the shoreline is to swim towards it, but this is where people get into trouble.
Averaging in speed between 1-2 meters/second, any swimmer, regardless of their strength, will tire easily in trying to swim against the rip.
Fatalities result when the tired swimmer no longer has the strength to swim.
Don’t swim against the current, stay calm and conserve your energy.
Swim out of the current in a direction following the shoreline, when you are out of the current, then swim back to shore.
Remember, rip currents are narrow. Swimming parallel to shore takes a fraction of the energy needed to swim against a rip.
If you can’t swim out of the rip, just tread water. When the current lessens, swim diagonally back to shore.
If you can, try to get attention from shore. If you witness someone in distress in the water, do not enter the water.
Call 9-1-1. Throw them a life-ring or a floatable object to grasp a hold of. Keep in visual contact with them.
Remember, good intentioned bystanders often drown themselves trying to perform rescue.
Never swim alone.
Remember, never swim against a rip, break the grip of the rip by swimming parallel to shore and then swim back to the beach.
And... When in doubt, don’t go out!
Share this knowledge with your family & friends, and help us break the grip of the rip once and for all.