How to spot and survive a rip current
A rip tide is a strong, localised and narrow current of water that moves directly away from the shore by cutting through the lines of breaking waves, like a river flowing out to sea.
AS temperatures increase and beaches fill up ahead of the festive season, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is appealing to bathers and shoreline anglers to exercise caution during the summer.
Also read: Loads of trash and debris recovered from Durban beaches
Rip currents have been known to catch bathers and fisherfolk off guard. CEO of the NSRI Dr Cleeve Robertson said that rip currents can be stronger in places during a spring tide, therefore the NSRI warns coastal bathers and shoreline anglers to be cautious.
Bathers should only swim at beaches protected by lifeguards and swim in between the safe swimming areas lifeguards post using their red and yellow flags.
What you need to know about rip currents:
Often, rip currents move slowly enough to barely be detected and can develop into currents moving at speeds of up to 2m per second, which is faster than any of us can swim.
Ranging in width from just a few metres to 100m, they pull to just behind where the waves form and then lose their power.
Rip currents can develop where there are breaking waves and claim the lives of many people each year.
How to spot a rip current:
· water through a surf zone that is a different colour to the surrounding water
· a change in the incoming pattern of waves – often the waves are not breaking in a rip channel
· seaweed, sand ‘clouds’ or debris moving out to the backline where waves are forming through the surf zone
· turbulent or choppy water in the surf zone in a channel or river-like shape, flowing away from the beach.
What to do if you are caught in a rip current:
· Do not panic.
· Stay calm and force yourself to relax.
· You are not going to win a fight with the ocean.
· Swim slowly and conservatively out of the current or relax and let it carry you out past the breakers until it slacks.
· Take note, from looking at the beach, of the direction that the current is pulling you – think of it like a river, and remember that to get out of a river, you would swim to the riverbank. This means that in a rip current, you should swim at 90 degrees to the direction that you are being pulled and then use the waves to help you get back to the beach.
For more Southlands Sun news, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also follow us on Instagram.
