GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - The NSRI Drowning Prevention team, together with the City of Cape Town’s Recreation and Parks Department is working on a research project, studying rip currents, and developing educational content based on aerial footage filmed in False Bay and Table Bay.
The experiment will use a non-toxic fluorescein dye to expose the flow of rip currents and help with beach safety education and awareness efforts.
In a first for Cape Town, a research permit has been issued by the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment for the deployment of a dye that will highlight and visually expose the flow of rip currents in the ocean.
The dye is non-toxic to the environment as well as people. The footage captured will be used as part of a focused rip current/beach safety public awareness campaign as preparations for the summer season are underway.
NSRI Drowning Prevention Manager, Andrew Ingram, says they have been granted the permit to deploy the fluorescein dye, according to global best practice among ocean researchers. Fluorescein is commonly used by scientists and plumbers in different water tracer experiments, as well as by carp fishermen, and is harmless.
“The first dye release took place last month at Kogel Bay and after studying the results from this experiment,” he said. The second release, which will be filmed, will take place at Strand beach today, 20 October.
Using the South African Weather Service’s experimental rip current forecast model, along with their standard operational coastal forecast systems, the rip current research team identified a strong likelihood for rip currents to occur today.
Rip currents are powerful channels of fast-moving water that move away from the beach. A rip current can be identified as it is often without wave activity and appears darker and deceptively calmer than the rest of the ocean.
These currents move fast and can be deadly, as panicked swimmers often try to counter them by swimming straight back to shore instead of not panicking and swimming out of the current - or simply floating until the current slackens and then swimming out of it.
Some useful tips if you get caught in a rip current:
• Don’t panic and try to swim against the current
• Try to swim sideways out of the current and then to shore
• If you can’t escape, float or tread water and preserve your energy
• Draw attention for help by calling out or waving for assistance
If you see somebody caught in a rip current do not enter the water and try to help them even if you are a strong swimmer and trained in rescue unless you have floatation. It is safer to throw them something that floats and call a lifeguard or the NSRI on 087 094 9774
“The best way to avoid rip currents is to swim between lifeguard flags where and when they are on duty. To learn more about rip currents please visit the NSRI’s website,” he concludes
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