tion. On its website, you can access
public service announcements in
English and Spanish and also listen
to podcasts about rip currents.
away from the beach. Rip currents
form as waves disperse along the
beach causing water to become
trapped between the beach and a
sandbar or other underwater fea-
ture. Water converges into a narrow,
river-like channel moving away from
the shore at high speed.
fully understand them. In order to do
this, you first need to be able to
identify them. The next time you are
on the beach, ask your lifeguard to
point out a rip current to you and
explain it. Seeing it for yourself will
prove to be a valuable opportunity.
Rip currents are without question
the biggest hazard present on the
beach.
ates that on a national level, at least
80 percent of surf rescues are due
to rip currents. In Ocean City that
be closer to 95 percent. It is also
estimated that in the United States,
nearly 100 people a year drown due
to rip currents. This would place rip
currents ahead of most weather-
related hazard fatalities (third lead-
ing cause of weather-related death)
such as lightning and tornados.
Only heat and flooding would be
responsible for more deaths yearly.
cues (surf rescue technician enters
the water and assists a person to
safety) each year, most of these are
minor and in many more cases the
surf rescue technician simply uses
their whistle and flags to direct the
swimmer out of the rip current with-
out incident.
about ocean conditions including rip
current activity and the best place to
swim. If you start to feel the effects of
a rip current, do not panic, and to es-
cape the pull of the rip current you
should always swim parallel to shore
and not try to fight the current. Once
you no longer feel the pull, you
should swim back into shore (rip cur-
rents do not pull you under).
rent, getting tired and then beginning
rip current. He is pictured being returned to safety by an SRT while a rescue
craft operator provides back up.
ing to educate people about the
hazards of rips currents much long-
er than the 15 years I have been on
the patrol.
safety seminars explaining rip cur-
rents and their dangers to beach
patrons. Every one of our lifeguard
chairs has a diagram and explana-
tion of rip currents, and we periodi-
cally hand out pamphlets about rip
currents. Furthermore, we work with
the local community, schools and
businesses to try to get the word
out.
involved with the National Weather
Service (NWS), and provides updat-
ed rip current data several times
each day to the NWS. With the data
the Beach Patrol provides, the NWS
is able to provide rip current fore-
casts and daily advisories for the
public.
cate the public about rip currents.
For example, there is often informa-
tion on the Ocean City Convention
Center's electronic billboard, the
sign entering Ocean City at the
Route 90 bridge as well as the Sea
Board (sign boat). The NWS has
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