In the hot summer, going to the beach to escape the heat is the first choice for many people, but drownings at sea occur every summer. At the same time, "rip currents" often appear in media reports. According to statistics, rip currents have become another marine disaster that ha

In the hot summer, going to the beach to escape the heat is the first choice for many people.

However, drownings at sea occur every summer.

At the same time,

" offshore flow " also often appears in media reports.

According to statistics, rip currents have become another marine disaster that harms people's coastal tourism after storm surges and waves. About 90% of seaside drownings are caused by rip currents.

What is a rip current?

Why are offshore currents so powerful?

How to identify rip currents when playing at the beach? If you encounter

, how should you save yourself?

Tell your children this knowledge that can save lives at critical moments!

1 What is a rip current?

Rip currents are strip-like surface currents that are brought back to the sea by the radiating stress and pressure difference of sea waves. After the waves break, the high water accumulated on the shore passes through the breaking waves and flows back into the sea.

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To put it simply, when the waves rush to the coast, they will break up because they encounter obstacles (land). A large amount of seawater needs to find a way out, but due to the push from the back waves, the seawater will initially move in a direction parallel to the beach, and then it will converge into one or several currents and return to the sea.

At this time, the grooves or gaps between discontinuous sand bars on the offshore seabed, protruding structures, and both sides of the reef will become "channels" for the seawater to rapidly retreat, forming a "low-lying area" on the water surface, creating an offshore flow.

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The speed of rip currents is mostly 0.3 to 1 meter/second, and the fastest can reach 3 meters/second. Its length is up to 30 to 100 meters, or even longer, and the flow direction is almost perpendicular to the coastline, Can drag strong swimmers into deep water quickly, causing drowning.

The location where rip currents occur often changes with wave height, wave period, seafloor topography and coastline shape.

From a hydrogeological perspective, beaches close to rocky coasts in tropical areas are more likely to have rip currents. The risk of rip currents at low tide is greater than at other times, and rip currents are relatively more serious in summer.

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2 How to distinguish rip currents?

To deal with rip currents, we must first learn to identify them.

The seabed where rip currents occur is lower than both sides. White waves on the surface of the sea water rush toward the shore, like a rising tide; but the water below the sea water flows toward the middle of the sea, like an ebb tide. Since rip currents are deeper currents, most of the colors are relatively deep.

So, if you continue to observe waves on both sides of a section of beach, but less or no waves in one area in the middle, you should be careful - there may be a rip current here.

In principle, we should try to avoid beaches and sea areas with rip currents, but rip currents can suddenly appear around you without warning.

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3 How to save yourself?

How to save yourself if you encounter a rip current?

1. Stay calm, adjust your breathing, relax your body, and try to float your body without struggling;

2. Secondly, if there are lifeguards on the shore, please shout for help;

3. If you are too far from the shore and cannot get rescue in time, To "go with the flow", swim out of the rip current in a direction parallel to the coast as quickly as possible, and then swim back to the shore.

Of course, the best thing to do is to choose a safe and lifeguarded sea area before going into the water. More importantly, do not go into the water alone!

Picture source: National Natural Resources Center

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