Rip Current Survival Tips: What to Do if You Get Caught in One

U.S.|How to Stay Safe From Rip Currents, and What to Do if You’re Caught in One

As hot summer days lure people to sandy shores and cool waters, experts say that people going on beach trips should be aware of the potential danger of rip currents, like one the authorities said swept away the actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner while he was swimming off the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica on Sunday.

At least three dozen people in the United States have drowned in the surf so far this summer, most of them caught in rip currents, channels of water that flow away from the shore and can drag people along, according to the National Weather Service, which tracks surf-zone deaths across the country.

As the summer holidays get in full swing, reports of rescues and fatalities tend to rise.

Mr. Warner, the American actor best known for playing Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” was swept away at a Costa Rican beach known for rip currents on a day when there was no lifeguard on duty, the local authorities said. Earlier in July, Chase Childers, a former minor league baseball player, died after rushing into the surf in Pawleys Island, S.C., to save swimmers in a rip current, the police said.

In Australia, an average of 26 people drowned each year in rip currents, statistics from 2011 to 2021 show.

And the fatalities do not just occur in oceans. In the Great Lakes region, rip currents caused an average of 50 drownings per year from 2010 to 2017, Chris Houser, the dean of science at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, said.

Can you see a calm strip of water cutting through the waves?

Rip currents occur when water flows away from the beach through a narrow channel that has been created by an underwater feature or a sandbar. They are easiest to see from an elevated position like a beach access point, and are harder to spot when a person is closer to the water.