Ocean Today

RIP CURRENT: PROTECT YOURSELF TO SAVE OTHERS. If you get caught in a rip current you want to know your options. The first thing is to relax, rip currents won’t pull you under, they will just pull you away from shore. If you can, swim out of the current along the beach and then back to shore at an angle following the breaking waves. If you can’t escape, float or tread water while you wave and call for help on shore. But you’ll also want to know your options if you are on shore and see someone caught in a rip current who needs help. First, stay calm and take 10 seconds to think through your options. Alert lifeguards or someone on the beach. If there is no one to help, call 911. Look for a flotation device or anything that floats and see if you can get it to the person without entering the water. If you must enter the water, remember to ALWAYS take a flotation device. All too often, someone attempting to make the rescue without the proper training and equipment is the one who drowns. Don’t be a victim. Protect yourself so you can protect others. Remember to always be aware of potential hazards and that ocean conditions can change quickly. And if possible, swim near a lifeguard. If you make sure to know your options before you head to the beach, you’ll be prepared for hazardous rip currents so you and your loved ones stay safe.

Rip Current Survival Guide. DR. GREG DUSEK: A rip current is a narrow, fast-moving channel of water that starts near the beach and extends offshore through the line of breaking waves. If you do get caught in a rip current, the best thing you can do is stay calm. It's not going to pull you underwater, it's just going to pull you away from shore. Call and wave for help. You want to float, and you don't want to swim back to shore against the rip current because it will just tire you out. You want to swim out of the rip, parallel to shore, along the beach and then follow breaking waves back to shore at an angle. When you first get to the beach, the best thing you can do is swim near a lifeguard. And then if you have questions about if the conditions are hazardous or not, ask a lifeguard. And then many beaches have things like a flag system, or other forms of communication to be able to tell you if the conditions are hazardous. But if you go to a beach without a lifeguard, when you get there, you want to make sure you know how to spot a rip current, and if you get caught in one, know how to get out. And then when you go in the water, always bring flotation. Always let a lifeguard make a rip current rescue, because often, the people that try to make rescues themselves end up being the ones who drown. Instead, the best way to help is to throw them something that floats and immediately get a lifeguard for help. Spotting a rip current can be difficult, and really needs some practice. But when you go to the beach, start off by staying back from the water. Rip currents are easier to see at an elevated position, like a dune line or beach access, and then look for places where waves aren't breaking, so flat spots in the line of breaking waves. And then also where there's maybe foam or sediment in the water being transported away from the beach offshore. Before you go to the beach, always check your local beach conditions. Look at the wave forecast. If you have waves two to three feet high or greater, you could have strong rip currents. And then look to see if there's a hazardous rip current statement for your local beach. And then always check the tide as well. So rip currents often occur at low tide, and so if you're going to the beach during a period of low tide, just be mindful that strong rip currents could occur. People often misunderstand and think that rip currents only occur during bad-weather days at the beach but actually, you can have strong rip currents with sunny days and waves of only about two to three feet high. And the reason for that is that rip currents aren't really caused by the weather. They're caused by the waves and other factors like the tide and the shape of the bottom. Rip currents can occur anywhere you have breaking waves, like large sandy beaches on the open ocean. But they can also occur where you have hard structures, like jetties, or piers, or even rocks jutting out into the ocean. In terms of the tide, usually rip currents are going to occur more at low tide when you have waves breaking over the sandbar near shore. And that's the third part, the sandbars. Usually you're going to have strong rip currents where you have significant sandbar near the shore with a channel in it.

Break the Grip of the Rip (For Teens). We all love the beach in the summer. The sun, the sand, and the surf. But just because we're having fun, doesn't mean we can forget about safety. Rip currents account for 80% of beach rescues, and can be dangerous or deadly if you don't know what to do. Know before you go. Check local beach forecasts before you head to the beach, and always swim near lifeguards. Look for any warning signs or flags. If you're unsure about conditions, ask a lifeguard. And know how to swim before you venture in. If you do happen to be caught in a rip current, stay calm. It won't pull you under - it'll just pull you away from shore. If you try to fight the rip current and swim against it, you'll just get worn out. Instead - float! If you're a good swimmer, swim parallel to shore until you've cleared the pull of the rip current. Swim with the waves, allowing them to push you to shore. If you can, wave and yell to get the attention of lifeguards and people on shore to let them know you need help. If you're on shore and see someone in trouble in a rip current call for help! If a lifeguard is not available, throw in something that floats or extend a reaching object, but don't try to be a hero and make the rescue yourself. Even trained lifeguards only attempt a rescue using a flotation device. Rip currents can be dangerous, but if you know your options, survey your situation, and stay calm, you can stay safe and continue to have fun in the surf, sand, and sun.

Rip Current Safety For Kids. We all love the beach in the summer. The sun, the sand, and the surf. But just because we're having fun, doesn't mean we can forget about safety. Rip currents account for 80% of beach rescues, and can be dangerous or deadly if you don't know what to do. It's simple stuff, but we can't take it for granted. Know before you go. Check local beach forecasts before you head to the beach, and always swim near lifeguards. Look for any warning signs or flags. If you're unsure about conditions, ask a lifeguard. And know how to swim before you venture in. If you do happen to be caught in a rip current, stay calm. It won't pull you under - it'll just pull you away from shore. If you try to fight the rip current and swim against it, you'll just get worn out. Instead - float! If you can, wave and yell to get the attention of lifeguards and people on shore to let them know you need help. If you're a good swimmer, swim parallel to shore until you've cleared the pull of the rip current. Swim with the waves, allowing them to push you to shore. If you can, wave and yell to get the attention of lifeguards and people on shore to let them know you need help. If you're on shore and see someone in trouble in a rip current do not go in after them. Instead - call for help! If a lifeguard is not available, throw in something that floats or extend a reaching object, but don't try to be a hero and make the rescue yourself. Even trained lifeguards only attempt a rescue using a flotation device. Rip currents can be dangerous, but if you know your options, survey your situation, and stay calm, you can stay safe and continue to have fun in the surf, sand, and sun.

Rip Current Science. You might have heard them referred to as “undertow” or “rip tides,” but these ocean phenomena are actually rip currents. Rip currents are narrow currents in the surf zone that move quickly away from shore. A typical rip current ranges from 50-100 feet wide, and can extend 100 yards or more offshore. It can reach speeds of over 5 miles per hour - that’s faster than an Olympic swimmer! That makes them dangerous and potentially deadly, and scientists want to learn more about them so we can better forecast when and where they will form - and keep beachgoers safe. Here’s what we know: Waves don’t have to be huge for a rip current to form - two or three feet are all it takes. And the weather doesn’t have to be bad for a rip current to emerge. They often occur in the nice days after a storm. They’re usually strongest near low tide, but can form at any time. Rip currents often form where sand bars are near the shore. They occur at breaks or channels in the bar. They’re often difficult to see, but you can spot them in areas where waves aren’t breaking, or where there’s foam, seaweed, or discolored water being pulled offshore. It’s easier to see a rip current from higher up - such as from the beach access over dunes or a lifeguard’s tower. Rip currents are a hazard for beachgoers, but by knowing the dangers and what to look for, you can avoid being caught in the grip of the rip.

The Acid Test(Ocean Today) Sigourney Weaver: Scientists refer to ocean acidification as the other carbon problem. The first, of course, is global warming. Lisa Suatoni: People have heard about global warming for decades, but it's only over the past five years that experts really understood that the carbon dioxide is causing a problem for the oceans as well. Ken Caldeira: When we burn coal, oil, and gas, we introduce carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but the atmosphere touches the ocean over 70 percent of Earth's surface, so this carbon dioxide we're putting into the atmosphere we are also putting into the ocean. Sigourney Weaver: What happens when so much carbon dioxide, 22 millions tons of it each day, mixes with ocean water? In terms of chemistry, the answer is simple: it becomes an acid. Lisa Suatoni: Since the industrial revolution, the ocean acidity has increased by 30 percent. If we continue to pollute as we are right now, the ocean acidity will double by the end of the century compared to pre-industrial times. That is a big problem. Sigourney Weaver: Thousands of ocean species build protective shells to survive. These organisms create their shells by drawing certain molecules from the water around them, but rising acidity depletes those molecules. And when acidity gets too high, shells dissolve. O. Hoegh-Guldberg: We know that coral reefs are particularly sensitive to ocean acidification, and the reason for that is that corals are unable to form their skeletons as quickly as they used to, and reefs are starting to crumble and disappear. We may lose those ecosystems within 20 or 30 years. And in those structures live an estimated million species. Sigourney Weaver: There's growing alarm that higher acidity will extinguish creatures that are a basic food source for fish. In many parts of the world, fish are a basic food source for people. The only way to stop acidification is to emit less carbon dioxide. But the ocean can better defend itself against rising acidity and temperature if its systems are healthy. Lisa Suatoni: That means restoring depleted fish populations, establishing marine protected areas all around the globe, and reducing pollution, particularly nutrient pollution, in the coastal zones. Steve Palumbi: Today, we're in a really remarkable history of the ocean. We know how to solve the local problems of marine ecosystem health. We know how to solve the global problem. The question is, will we?

WHAT IS MARINE DEBRIS? Have you ever been to the beach and noticed litter, like plastic bottles or foam take-out containers on the sand? Or maybe you’ve been to a river or bay where there’s a car tire or bags stuck in the mud on the shore? Or a bunch of deflated balloons that say Happy Birthday floating in the water? All of that junk in the water, or on the shoreline, is considered marine debris. It's anything solid and man-made in the ocean or Great Lakes that is not supposed to be there. And anything people use every day can become marine debris if they don't dispose of it properly. And I mean anything! The most common items we find when we do shoreline cleanups are plastics. But we also find rubber, cloth, glass, metal, and paper litter. Sometimes, the debris is so tiny, like a plastic microbead from your face wash, that you can barely see it in the water. Marine debris is more than just trash in the ocean. Sometimes fishers lose their gear, like fishing traps, nets, or fishing line, and it continues to drift through the water, catching animals for a long time. We call that derelict fishing gear, and it's marine debris. Have you ever seen an old boat left behind on a shoreline? Abandoned and derelict vessels are also marine debris. So let's review. Anything we use every day can become marine debris if we don't dispose of it properly or if it goes into the water by accident. Marine debris can be very small, or can be very big, and anything in between. But most importantly, marine debris is one of the biggest pollution problems facing the world's oceans and waterways today.

Know Your Ocean. Even though the ocean covers seventy percent of the Earth’s surface, people tend to know more information about land than the sea. As a result, our understanding of the ocean is often incomplete or full of misconceptions. How well do you know the ocean? You may think Earth has five separate oceans. They’re clearly labeled on our maps. But, in actuality, these are all connected, and part of one global ocean system. Ever wonder why the ocean is blue? You may have heard its because the water reflects the color of the sky. Not quite. Sunlight contains all the colors of the rainbow. When it hits the ocean, it gets scattered by the water molecules. Blue light is scattered the most, which is why the ocean appears blue. Even more interesting is that floating plants and sediments in the water can cause light to bounce in such a way for the ocean to appear green, yellow, and even red! Another idea some people have is that the sea floor is flat. Actually, just like land, the sea floor has canyons, plains, and mountain ranges. And many of these features are even bigger than those found on land. You may also think that our ocean’s saltwater is just a mix of water and table salt. Not so. Seawater’s “salt” is actually made of dissolved minerals from surface runoff. That is, excess water from rain and melting snow flowing over land and into the sea. This is why the ocean doesn’t have the same level of salinity everywhere. Salinity varies by location and season. Finally, you may have heard that melting sea ice will cause sea levels to rise. In reality, sea ice is just frozen seawater, and because it routinely freezes and melts, its volume is already accounted for in the ocean. Sea levels can rise, however, from ice that melts off land and into the ocean. Understanding basic facts about the ocean is important since it affects everything from our atmosphere to our ecosystems. By knowing your ocean, you are better prepared to help protect it.

Hurricane Storm Surge. Powerful winds aren’t the only deadly force during a hurricane. The greatest threat to life actually comes from the water – in the form of storm surge. Storm surge is water from the ocean that is pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds swirling around the hurricane. This advancing surge combines with the normal tides and can increase the water level by 30 feet or more. Storm surge combined with waves can cause extensive damage. It can severely erode beaches and coastal highways. The pounding waves can take out boats and buildings. As the waters move inland, rivers and lakes may be affected, and add to the rising flood levels. While we can’t prevent storm surge, we do have a system that can warn us of the incoming threat. As a hurricane develops over the open ocean, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center closely monitor its path to evaluate the risk of a coastal strike. They use a computer model called SLOSH to predict storm surge heights. The model depends critically on the hurricane’s track, intensity, and size. SLOSH uses water depths, land elevations, and barriers to the flow of water to compute surges as they move inland. This data helps determine which areas may need to be evacuated. When a hurricane slams our coast, it’s important to be aware of all the dangers. As a reminder, emergency managers want us to run from the water and hide from the wind. Don’t take unnecessary risks during a storm. Conditions can change in the blink of an eye. Storm surge is a dangerous event during a hurricane, where furious winds are driving deadly flows of water from our seas to our shores.