GLIN==> News Release - Rip Current Awareness Week

["Marie E. Zhuikov" <mzhuikov@d.umn.edu>]

                            MN SEA GRANT
                            NEWS RELEASE
6/2/05
Contact: Jesse Schomberg, jschombe@umn.edu or (218) 726-6182

         National Rip Current Awareness Week Begins June 5

Several national organizations are banding together to call attention 
to deadly rip currents that can form in the Great Lakes and oceans. The 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Weather 
Service, Ocean Service, and Sea Grant College Program have designated 
the week of June 5, 2005, as the inaugural national Rip Current 
Awareness Week.

Olympic swimmer Ian Crocker and The Weather Channel are joining NOAA 
for this 2005 life-saving safety campaign. Future Rip Current Awareness 
Weeks will be scheduled for the first full week of June, coinciding 
with the traditional start of the summer vacation season.

Rip currents are narrow, fast-moving channels of water that move away 
from shore. They are powerful enough to sweep away even the strongest 
swimmers, which happened in 2003 on Duluth's Park Point beach. They 
could also occur on Wisconsin Point beaches.

Locally, the Minnesota Sea Grant program at the University of Minnesota 
Duluth has developed a Web page devoted to information about Lake 
Superior rip currents. The site, www.seagrant.umn.edu/rip, focuses on 
Duluth's Park Point beach.

"There's no need to stay away from the beach this summer," said Jesse 
Schomberg, coastal communities educator with Minnesota Sea Grant. "Just 
be especially careful on windy or wavy days, especially if you're with 
people who can't swim well. It?s important to know what rip currents 
look like and the steps to take to get out of one if caught."

Sea Grant offers these tips to swimmers to break the grip of a rip 
current:

--Don't fight the current.
--Swim parallel to shore to get out of the current then head back to 
shore at an
 angle. (Rip currents are rarely more than 30 feet wide.)
--If you can't escape, float calmly until the current slows.
--If you need help, call or wave for assistance.
--Swim at a beach protected by a lifeguard.

The City of Duluth encourages people only to swim at the Park Point 
Beach House because it is the only location with lifeguards present.

Because shoreline conditions are similar for Wisconsin Point, experts 
recommend using caution there as well. "Even though we haven't seen any 
rip currents on Wisconsin Point, the sediment supplies and nearshore 
conditions are very, very similar to those of Park Point," said Gene 
Clark, coastal engineering specialist with Wisconsin Sea Grant. "We 
should be equally concerned about Wisconsin Point beaches."

Nationally, more than 100 people die annually from rip currents, and 
the United States Lifesaving Association estimates that 80 percent of 
all lifeguard rescues result from rip currents.  The National Weather 
Service considers rip currents the third deadliest weather-related 
hazard ahead of tornadoes, lightning, and hurricanes but behind heat 
waves and floods.

How to recognize a rip current:

--A break in the incoming wave pattern.
--A channel of churning choppy water.
--A difference in water color.
--Foam or objects that move steadily offshore.

You can also order a free rip current brochure from Minnesota Sea Grant 
by calling (218) 726-6191 or by email at seagr@d.umn.edu.

Minnesota Sea Grant is part of a network of 30 Sea Grant College 
Programs spanning coastal states throughout the United States and 
Puerto Rico.

                                 --30--



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