A slightly different take on rip currents

A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TAKE ON RIP CURRENTS.

I was looking at this photo and a thought popped into my head. A river works in almost the same way as a rip current and is quite a good way of describing how rip currents work.

It rains on 'high land' and the rain hits the ground and finds the 'path of least resistance'...flowing/seeps downhill and funnels into small streams...that then join other small streams...forming larger streams...joining rivers etc. The water will always flow downhill, due to gravity and always find either the sea or a lake / body of water. Once the river joins the sea and energy from that river disperses very quickly. That's because the water is back at sea level, gravity no longer dictates that 'downhill' flow and the current will fade quite quickly. Also, rivers can be fast flowing, most river/streams are never that wide and rarely travel in a straight line. Rivers will change course and meander.

Rip currents really work in the same way. Water is transported to 'high land' (up the beach) by waves and sometimes large tidal movement. That water will again find the 'path of least resistance' and 'funnel' back down the gradient of the beach or flow out along smooth, hard surfaces - like harbour walls. This is because those smooth surfaces offer less resistance than sand and rocks/boulders on the beach. Rips will move around, meander and rarely flow in straight lines, much like a river....and like a river, once the water in the body of a rip flows out past the breaking waves, the energy of the rip will disperse quite quickly. For the same reason as the river, the water is back at 'sea level'. Much like the river, rip currents are often narrow and can be powerful.

If you imagine falling into a river. The obvious thing to do would be to swim to the side, aim for the bank and pull yourself out...no point in swimming directly against the river...you'll just get tired and won't get anywhere. The river will always win! Exactly the same principle can be applied to the rip current. Rip currents are generally narrow (in the size of swell you're likely to be swimming in, maybe up to 10 metres wide). Aim to swim out to the side and then swim back to shore. Often a good idea to aim for breaking waves either side of the rip.

Rip Current awareness / Identification

So I popped across to Praa Sands today, as there was a decent swell, with the aim of getting footage of a rip current. Today was a lovely January day, just after a storm…so plenty of swell around.

Now this isn’t your text book rip current and that’s what I like about it. Most rip diagrams show you a perfectly formed rip, running at 90 degrees to the beach. More often than not, rips don’t follow this pattern. They come in all kinds of weird and wonderful shapes and can change shape and strength, depending on the conditions, tidal movement etc.

In this instance, you have a deep(er) ‘trough’ and diagonal rip current which leads onto a shallower bank, where some waves are breaking. This wouldn’t be the worst rip in the world for swimmers, as it would simply push you down the beach (from right to left), onto a shallower bank…where you should be able to get in fairly easily. *It would be more of a problem for children and poor swimmers, as it would carry them out of their depth fairly quickly and induce panic. It would also carry you into the bigger waves, which again can cause panic and issues for less experienced swimmers.

In this example, had the tide been 15-20m higher, this rip current would be much stronger and would lead it’s victims out just past the breaking waves, into deeper water. It’s also worth bearing in mind that if the tide was 20-30m further out (towards low tide), this rip current would simply be dry sand and wouldn’t cause any problems at all. Be aware that rip and their position do change with the tide. The position of rip current on a beach between high and low tide for example, can be very different.