Within the inviting waters of the ocean, a silent peril lurks beneath — powerful, narrow channels of water known as rip currents.
A rip current possesses the ability to carry even the strongest swimmer over a half mile from shore. June is the deadliest month for rip currents. In June 2023, rip currents claimed the lives of 11 people within a two week period — from the Gulf of Mexico between Fort Morgan, Alabama, and Panama City Beach, Florida.
According to the National Weather Service, rip currents are the number one weather-related killer at the beaches along the northern Gulf Coast. While rip currents are not restricted to specific weather conditions and can occur even on clear, sunny days — wind and strong weather patterns, like hurricanes, can make them even more dangerous.
Since 2002, there have been 213 recorded deaths attributed to rip currents along the Gulf Coast in the areas monitored by the National Weather Service Offices located in Tallahassee, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama.
But the state of Florida is home to the most rip current deaths in the U.S. In 2023, across the country, 82 people died in rip currents — 31 of them in Florida.
What is a rip current?
Rip currents are swift currents of water that have the potential to carry individuals from hundreds to thousands of yards away from the shore. When powerful waves crash onto the beach, the water surges back into the ocean to find equilibrium, creating these outflowing currents.
Water, driven by the principle of least resistance, naturally carves channels, or “rips,” in sandbars, swiftly guiding its flow through them.
Rip currents most commonly form at low spots or breaks in sandbars and near structures such as groins, jetties and piers.National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fatalities typically result when individuals swept away from the shoreline, are unable to remain afloat due to fear, panic or fatigue.
How do you spot a rip current?
While the water might appear calm, a rip current can travel as fast as 8 feet per second, sweeping a swimmer away within moments.
Lifeguards are trained to spot rip currents, but beachgoers are usually alerted to the danger by the presence of rip current or beach hazard signs in areas where the risk is high — don’t ignore them.
Be on the lookout for danger zones.Delaware Sea Grant
According to the Academy of Surfing Instructors, there are also “signs” in the water itself to look for.
- Be vigilant for a distinctive “rippled appearance” on otherwise tranquil surface water.
- Stay away from discolored water that could be caused from sand being stirred up from the sea floor.
- Beware of foam, bubbles or debris on the surface of the water that appears to be moving out to sea.
- Look out for waves that are breaking on both sides, but not in the middle.
How to survive a rip current
The National Weather Service and NOAA offer the following tips for surviving a rip current.
- Try to relax. Rip currents don’t pull you under.
- Don’t try to swim against a rip current because you will expend too much energy — energy you need to survive and escape the rip current.
- Don’t try to swim directly into shore. Swim along the shoreline until you escape the current’s pull. When free from the pull of the current, swim at an angle away from the current toward shore.
- If you feel you can’t reach shore, relax, face the shore and call or wave for help.
They also advise people to only swim at beaches with lifeguards. But if you find yourself on a beach without one, take a friend. Never swim alone.
