NSRI cautions against rip currents with spring tide

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

The National Sea Rescue Institute has warned bathers along the coast of the dangers of rip currents, which are at their strongest a few days before and after spring tide.

Today (Saturday) is spring tide, following last night's full moon.

The NSRI says rip-currents are the greatest cause of drowning accidents along the coast.

A rip-current is a river of water flowing fast out to sea against the incoming waves and can occur at different places along the coastline regularly throughout the day.

Rip-currents are a naturally forming channel, or river, of water heading out to sea against the incoming currents. As waves push water onto the shore the water has to find a way of heading back out to sea. This is done by rip currents. They form at different places constantly throughout the day.

Anyone caught in a rip-current will realise they are being swept out to sea faster than what they can swim towards shore.

If you are caught in a rip-current:
-Do not panic and do not try to swim against the current. As hard as it sounds let the current take you out to sea.
-Tread water by moving your arms and legs in circular movements to stay afloat and keep your lungs gently filled with air to aid in your buoyancy.
-Raise one arm in the air and shout for help to alert people on the shore that you are in trouble.
-The rip-current force dissipates the further out to sea it gets so at your first opportunity swim parallel to the shore front until you are free of the rip and then use the incoming waves to aid your progress to get back to shore.

During Spring Tide, which happens twice a month every month of the year at full moon and again at new moon along every coast in the world, rip currents are at their strongest for a few days leading up to Spring Tide, peaking on the day of Spring Tide (full or new moon), and lasting for a few days after the Spring Tide.

Spring Tides cause a higher than normal high tide and a lower than normal low tide and hence much stronger rip-currents than at other times of the month. Spring Tides are caused by the Magnetic pull of the Moons effect on earth.
Spring Tide rip-currents can be so strong that they are known to sometimes sweep people off their feet in ankle deep water and sweep people rapidly out to sea.

Extreme caution should be exercised during the Spring Tides.

Bathers at beaches should try to swim only when and where lifeguards are on duty and swim within the safe demarcated swimming zones are posted by lifeguards at the beach using their red and yellow flags. Lifeguards at beaches change the safe demarcated swimming zones regularly throughout the day (depending where they detect the strongest rip currents to be) and ask bathers to move to bathe in the new placed channel. The public should obey the lifeguards instructions.