A rip current, commonly referred to simply as a rip, or by the misnomer "rip tide", is one specific kind of water current that can be found near beaches. It is a strong, localized, and rather narrow current of water. It is strongest near the surface of the water, and it moves directly away from the shore, cutting through the lines of breaking waves.
Rip currents can occur at any beach where there are breaking waves: on oceans, seas, and large lakes. The location of rip currents can be unpredictable: while some tend to reoccur always in the same place, others can appear and disappear suddenly at various locations near the beach
If you get caught in a rip current, don't panic, learn what to do.
If you are suddenly being pulled away from shore by a powerful rip current, what should you do? Historic advice was to swim parallel to the shore in order to get outside the current. Extensive study of these currents now indicate your odds are better if you stay still and tread water.
If you swim parallel to the shore, you have a 50% chance of swimming into a stronger current. Tread water and your chances of going back to shore within about three minutes is at 90%.
Rip currents are often not always easily identifiable to beach goers. A few things to look for:
- A channel of churning, choppy water;
-
A line of sea foam, seaweed, or debris moving steadily seaward;
- Different colored water beyond the surf zone; and
A break in the incoming wave pattern as waves roll into shore.
None, one, or several of these may be visible and indicate the location of rip currents.
Is it an undertow, rip current or rip tide?
Undertow: After a wave breaks and runs up the beach, most of the water flows seaward. This backwash of water can trip waders, move them seaward, and make them susceptible to immersion from the next incoming wave.
Rip current: A relatively small-scale surf-zone current moving 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 feature. The water converges into a narrow, river-like channel moving away from the shore at high speed.
Rip tide: Often incorrectly used as the term for rip current, it’s a distinctly separate type of current that includes both ebb and flood tidal currents that are caused by egress and ingress of the tide through inlets and the mouths of estuaries and harbors.
Stay clear of man-made structures like piers, jetties, and breakwaters; as rips and dangerous currents are strongest around these. Waves normally break in long even lines over sandbars but will not break evenly next to a jetty.
If you are caught up in a rip and there are surfers or lifeguards around, tread water shout for help and raise your right arm as high as you can. This is the signal that you need help. (Raising your left arm signals that someone near you needs help.) You won't get swept out to sea, rips usually dissipate within 100 yards of the beach.
Source: the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
READ MORE:
Rip Currents: Beach Safety, Physical Oceanography, and Wave Modeling
: The culmination of research from over 100 coastal scientists, engineers, forecast meteorologists, lifeguard chiefs, and other practitioners from around the world who participated in the 1st International Rip Current Symposium. These experts identify advancements in research that will lead to a better understanding of the dynamics, mechanisms, and predictability of these dangerous currents, and lower the number of rip current drownings.
