Hidden Danger : The Water May Look Calm, but Spring Is the Worst Time for Rip Currents

It was not a picture-perfect day at the beach, but it was Luis Garibaldi’s first visit in nearly a year and he was determined to have some fun.

After settling his family on a blanket at the north end of Manhattan Beach, the 35-year-old sales clerk strapped his bodyboard to his wrist and headed into the surf.

Suddenly, his wife, niece and two children seemed smaller than ants on the sand. He tried to paddle toward shore, but a mysterious force seemed to pull him farther out to sea.

He was starting to struggle and swallow water when lifeguard Rodney Williams swam toward him with a rescue float and towed him back to the beach.

“I was scared because I couldn’t come back,” said Garibaldi, who was so shaken by the experience that he stayed out of the water the rest of the day. “But (Williams) really helped a lot.”

Garibaldi later learned he had jumped right into the mouth of a powerful rip current, a wave-generated force that makes ocean water rush quickly back to sea, frequently pulling sand, seaweed and swimmers with it.

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Rip currents, commonly known by the inaccurate term riptides, occur all year. But the recent winter storms have made them particularly dangerous--even deadly--this spring along several South Bay beaches, Los Angeles County lifeguards say.

Last month, a 19-year-old Carson man drowned after being caught in a rip current south of the spot where Garibaldi was bodyboarding. And lifeguards saved so many others during that unseasonably warm month--986 people countywide--that they broke their previous 10-year record for March rescues.

At least 85% of those rescues involved pulling swimmers and boarders out of rip currents, lifeguards said.

“The ocean is always dangerous,” said county lifeguard Capt. Bob Buchanan. “But spring is one of the most dangerous times of year in Manhattan, Hermosa and Dockweiler beaches.”

That’s because those south-facing beaches are more exposed to the strong winter storms that pound the local shoreline. The heavy surf tends to move sand on the ocean floor, leaving deep depressions that can act as rip current channels.

When the currents are strong enough, even beach-goers wading in ankle-deep water can learn to appreciate their power.

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Linda Miller, a nurse from South Dakota, was walking along the shore in Manhattan Beach on a recent weekend when she suddenly stumbled into a hole and was sucked toward the surf by a rip current. Miller, wearing the dress she had on in church earlier that day, managed to pull herself out of the current, but was drenched from head to toe.

“Oh my gosh! That has a life of its own out there,” Miller exclaimed as she shook water from her hair and tried to smooth her soaked clothing. “It was like a huge hand came in and dumped me under. It got deep real fast. Oh my gosh! What a feeling!”

The trained eye can easily identify rip currents. The water in the path of a rip current usually has a sandy appearance and the foam from nearby breaking waves appears farther out at sea. Rip currents also seem calmer than neighboring water because fewer waves break in their path.

That feature, however, can make rip currents more attractive to novice ocean swimmers, who often mistakenly believe they should enter the water where there are fewer waves.

“Typically, people will bring their family down to the beach looking for a spot where the waves will look the calmest,” Buchanan said. “The whole family then hops into the water and finds themselves in the midst of a riptide.”

Panicking and trying to swim back to land is exhausting and increases the risk of drowning, Buchanan warns. Swimmers caught in rip currents should instead swim parallel to the shore or signal to a lifeguard for help, he said.

To avoid danger altogether, beach-goers should consult with a lifeguard before entering the water, Buchanan said. They also should swim near occupied lifeguard stations, he said.

“When we get non-swimmers in a riptide, we’ve got about 30 seconds to get to them in the water,” lifeguard Capt. Gary Crum said. “The general public tends to underestimate the danger that’s really out there.”

Caught in the Current Lifeguards say most of their beach rescues are due to riptides, a collision of currents that often catches swimmers off guard and drags then far from shore. (A): Water on the beach sometimes becomes trapped on shore by the incoming surf. (B): Instead of flowing back into the ocean, the water is forced sideways until it reaches a dip in the sea floor. The dip channels the water back into the sea creating a fast-moving current that can extend up to 100 feet. * Spotting Rip Currents * Water is frothy and brown instead of green. * The riptide flattens incoming waves. * Escaping the Pull (1) Don’t panic (2) Swim parallel to the shore (3) Use swim fins * Record rescue months for L.A. County*March 1993: 986 April 1992: 3,091 May 1984: 2,709 June 1981: 6,458 July 1989: 3,035 August 1984: 3,031 * Monthly records based on data since 1975.