Rip Currents
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Rip currents are responsible for about 150 deaths every year in the United States. In Florida, they kill more people annually than thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes combined. They are the number-one concern for beach lifeguards: About 80 percent of all beach rescues are related to rip currents. Despite these startling statistics, many swimmers dont know anything about rip currents, and they have no idea how to survive when caught in one. In this research paper I will discuss what causes rip currents, how you can recognize them and what you should do if one takes you out to sea (
Channel of churning, choppy water
Area having a notable difference in water color
Line of foam, seaweed, or debris moving steadily seaward
Break in the incoming wave pattern
One, all or none of the clues may be visible. (
There have been research studies done on rip currents to better understand them. One study in particular was done in Gainsville, Florida by two doctoral students. For the study, Dean and Jamie MacMahan, a UF doctoral student in civil and coastal engineering, analyzed thousands of time-elapsed photos of a rip current-prone section of the beach on North Carolinas Outer Banks. Shot hourly for 2Ð years from a 100-foot tower at a federal research facility, the photos revealed dark swaths of the ocean the researchers tied to rip currents. The swaths expanded or shrank as weather and surf conditions changed, but remained in the same place along the beach even after storms. Rip currents typically occur as water pushed between a sandbar and the beach rushes seaward through a channel in the bar. Dean and MacMahans research found that these channels persist even as wave action moves the sandbar toward the beach. Only a particularly large storm or hurricane moves the channels, the study found. The study shows that rip currents likely are much more common that had been thought, becoming noticeable, and dangerous, only when the flow of water is sufficient to create a strong current. That tends to occur when storms or particularly strong tides push large amounts of water toward shore, piling water into the gap between the sandbar and beach, Dean said. A strong rip current moves at about three feet per