Understanding Rip Currents

Dr Tim Scott, lecturer in Ocean Exploration, explains how rip currents are created and the latest research helping us to improve our understanding of them.

The Coastal Processes Research Group (CPRG) is an internationally recognised group of researchers, specialising in field studies of coastal processes.

[MrShawn]

i got caught in a rip current a few years ago in Cuba and almost downed.. The mission team i was with went to this public beach a day before we were set to head back and i decided to take a run along the beach.. After maybe 3 miles, i decided to take a quick swim.. At this time i had no clue rip tides even existed (i live in mid Canada). I remember jumping into the waves and the next thing being less and less able to touch the groud with my feet.. I started to struggle and i thought maybe i just walked into an area of the beach that was deeper then the rest... I started to noticed i was getting farther away from shore and I was finding it harder to walk on the beach floor. I decided to swim to my right hoping to reach a shallower area of the beach.. The waves kept hitting me as i desperatly kept trying to ride the wave and wanting to bounce myself off the ocean floor.. I was getting tired and i remember so desperatly needing air that i stretched my legs so hard to try and touch the ocean floor that i tore my calf muscles on both legs (didnt heal for weeks).. Thankfully i must have been close to the outer right side of the rip tide or i most certainly would have drown... Once i was out of the rip tide i was able to slowly make my way back to shore. The scary thing was even tho i was yelling "help" at the top of my lung, not a single person heard me.

[foxlaw]

Having scanned a good number of videos on the topic of rip currents, this video and the academic expertise presented are simply outstanding! Rips are simply an ordinary phenomenon that can occur anywhere, anytime along any ocean beach. By teaching us through the science and seeing the visuals, this video helps you understand what to do to protect yourself and others. Superb educator!

[emmawilding]

i got caught in a rip as a kid without realising it. luckily i figured out that i needed to swim perpendicular to the direction i was being pulled in, to get out of it, and i made it back to safer waters. i didn't realise what i'd done until RNLI came to my school to do an assembly on beach safety a year later

[hemothegoblin]

Mom: No we have Ryan Gosling at home
Ryan Gosling at home:

[igo]

I remember Doonbeg, fighting for 2hrs, I got lucky as I decided to preserve my energy for as long as possible and then was the high tide that saved me! Sometimes the hardest thing to do is just to do nothing! Great video, life saving info

[Bastille]

Ryan Goslings long lost brother found in Rip Current

[noohall]

Where it’s calmer it’s more dangerous, I got caught in one in Portugal, frightened the life out of me, It dragged me towards rocks and coral, I was lucky to get

[dudester]

This was great information; thanks for posting this video showing rip current examples.
👍🏼

[capricornangel]

I got caught in one in either England or Ireland when I was 10 years old. Luckily for my age and naivety, I didn't realise the danger I was in so i was calm. When I got swept out to sea, I could still see the shore so I wasn't worried, though i was confused how this was possible as i had just been swimming ferociously to get to shore with waves crashing over my head, however it was more peaceful back there as the waves weren't crashing over my head there. So I stopped and floated there for abit while I worked up the will to swim again. Luckily 2nd time trying I made it. Not sure if the rip disappated or whether I ended up floating out of the direct line of the current. But jeeze I feel lucky now

[judimoss]

Thanks for sharing this great explanation 👍🏼

[DrAlexVasquezICHNFM]

Good documentation of the circular motion.

[sweetalexandandrea]

Dr Tim Scott looks like that guy from the movie: The Notebook

[LoganGraceHope]

I used to swim in these on purpose to help me swim out further or find sand bars. I had no idea they were dangerous till a few years ago. I was completely clueless!!! I'm so lucky that I didn't drown! Scary!!!!

[pablojimenez]

Can a rip current alone carry you into the open ocean and away from shore? Probably not, but with a combination of other currents, may take the swimmer several miles into the ocean. This may be particularly true in islands.

[zecoya]

I didn't know Ryan Gosling was from the UK

[littlestar]

Yes. I understood it all. Yes. Right.
But what is rip current.

[Mhats]

kutos to whoever thought of filming a beach from that angle and timelapse it

[dacat]

What I have noticed is that the people who live in the proximity of the shore are usually bad swimmers and have only a limited understanding of how tides, wind directions, swell and water depth interact. To them the ocean is dangerous and therefore they only go to the beach for sun bathing.
Surfers on the other hand hardly enter the ocean without their surfboard. Therefore there is usually nobody around to have a discussion about this topic on the beach. Exceptions are life guards. But there are only few of them. And in the third world countries they are almost not existent.
To get confidence in these conditions you need to swim in these conditions.
But to

[funnysardarjipilot]

Good info regarding rip currents
One must take care
Otherwise RIP
Rest in piece

[pendlelancashire]

*Can everyone STOP pointing out his resemblance to Ryan?*