Stay safe, beware the rip

Video

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS & VIDEO - With the recent spate of drowning incidents around the country, some being caused by rip currents, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is urging the public to exercise extreme caution around the coast.

There have been very strong rip currents around the coast, and bathers and shoreline anglers are most at risk.

Rip currents can develop where there are breaking waves. Bigger waves produce stronger currents, and these "rivers" of current are produced by water moving from the beach back out to sea.

They happen all the time at many beaches and are the biggest danger that visitors face in the water.

Often rip currents move slowly enough to barely be detected. But given the right circumstances of waves and beach profile, they can develop into currents moving up to two metres per second – faster than any of us can swim.

As with all risks, avoiding rip currents altogether is the safest strategy.However, here are a few tips on how to spot a rip current:

A change in the incoming pattern of waves (often the waves are not breaking in a rip channel);
Water through a surf zone that is a different colour to the surrounding water;
Turbulent or choppy water in the surf zone in a channel or river-like shape flowing away from the beach;
Seaweed, sand "clouds" or debris moving out through the surf zone to the backline where waves are forming.

Bathers are at risk of being swept out to sea by rip currents while swimming or wading in water along the beach. A rip current can form very suddenly and even bathers wading in shallow water can be trapped in and be swept to sea.

Bathers caught in a rip current should not panic. See a video summarising all you need to know about rip currents below.