Dangerous underwater currents sign. Reverse current at sea. What is the danger of "reverse flow"

In a matter of seconds, it can carry a bather far out to sea. How to avoid it?

dead place

Rips can occur both at sea and in the ocean. More often - on shallow beaches with a gentle, low-lying coast. It happens where no one expects - next to the shore. A man is splashing in the water, enjoying the sun and salt spray, when suddenly he begins to be carried to the sea. The bather is seized with panic: he tries to row towards the shore, but does not approach him even a centimeter. He rows even harder, but in vain - an unknown force pulls him in the other direction. After several minutes of fighting with the sea, even experienced swimmers have no strength left. Rescuers say that most accidents on the water are associated with falling into such currents.

Our reference

Look at both!

Fortunately, in many cases the rip can be calculated. It is not for nothing that the current is called discontinuous - a gap is really visible in the surf line. Here are its signs:

• everywhere the waves roll onto the shore with the same white lambs, but in some area there are no waves - only a strip of water, many bathers go there - they say, the sea is calmer there. But this calm is an appearance;
• another picture: in one place, perpendicular to the shore, a seething river has formed, it foams, bubbles, algae swim in it (and they swim not to the shore, but from the shore). This river is the rip;
• sea ​​of ​​a uniform color, such as turquoise or blue. However, a path of water of a different color “adjoins” the shore. For example, white, blue or purple. Stay away from this path.

No panic!

And if, nevertheless, it was not possible to calculate the rip and you are already being carried from the coast to the sea? In such a situation, the main thing is not to panic and not lose your temper. You can get out of the rip:

• save your strength as much as possible - you don’t need to fight the current and row to the shore, it’s useless. On the contrary, relax as much as possible - let the river carry you. Don't be scared - it won't pull you under the water (it's a surface current!) and won't drag you too far. After 100-150 m, the flow rate should weaken;
• swim perpendicular to the current to break out of the "chute". Having sailed a hundred meters from the rip, turn around to the shore.
• if the rip is wide and long, and your strength is running out, lie on your back and raise your hand so that the rescuers can see you. Take any position that will allow you to relax and stay on the water for a long time.

Safe swimming rules

• Swim at the beaches where there are lifeguards.
• Do not arrange night swims.
• Do not swim alone, especially on wild beaches.
• Do you see warning red flags and rip current signs on the shore? In the water - not a foot.
• Do not leave children alone in the water! Even in shallow water, even if the sea is calm. Be there.

Lyubava Greshnova:

I really love big waves on the sea or ocean and I am happy to choose hotels where there are such. Fortunately, God spared from undercurrents ... Always check whether there are such currents first with the tour operator, then with the owner of the hotel. You can even chat with the locals. Don't ignore warnings. If the beach is closed, swim in the pool.

Updated 12/27/2019 Author Oleg Lazhechnikov Views 7193 Comments 26

A lot of applied, reporting and entertaining texts have been written on the Internet on the topic “what a tourist needs to know before going to the sea”, but it is this article that makes sense to read with utmost attention and seriousness.

If you are going to the sea, no matter what it is and where, you must know this information. 95% of drowned people in the world died precisely because they did not know about RIP currents or rip currents. Do you know how the abbreviation RIP stands for? "Rest in peace" in English means "rest in peace."

What are reverse currents

This is a stream of water perpendicular to the shore. If you do not go into a scientific description of the occurrence of countercurrents, then on the fingers the explanation looks like this.

Waves, surf, which constantly boils along the edge of the coast, under the water washes an even ridge of sand. Hillock, ridge, wall, spit - call it what you want. This ridge is not visible from the shore, it stretches under water along the entire line of the beach or only partially, it is constantly present there or it is washed up only at certain times of the year (and sometimes at different times of the day) - but it is there. You probably yourself remember that there is such a bottom that becomes deeper literally from the second step, and after a couple of steps it suddenly becomes shallow, and you begin to climb a small slope under water. It is he.

A rip current occurs when, at its weakest point, a sandy ridge cannot withstand the pressure of receding water and is washed away. Do you understand? A hole appears in the underwater wall, and all the water to the right and left of the hole, retained by this wall, rushes into it, creating an instantaneous, incredibly strong and very narrow stream of water that knocks you down like a mountain river and takes a person away from the shore into the open sea.

Well, in the case of an underwater spit, which does not stretch along the entire coast - at the very edge of the spit, with each outgoing wave, an underwater jet arises due to the difference in the volume of outflow of water. Where nothing interferes with the water, the sea simply moves back. The scythe, preventing the outflow of the lower layers of water, makes them accelerate.

What are rip currents

According to some reports, the width of the rip can vary from 2-3 to 50 meters, and the speed of the current can reach from 4 to 16 km/h. And if at the minimum indicators you get off with a slight fright, then when you get into a large rip that can drag you into the sea for half a kilometer, it is very important not to panic and remember everything that you are reading now.

Rip current, it is also a counter current, it is also a rip current, a pull, a rip wave - it is found on most oceanic beaches in the world. Where a rescue service is organized and the beach is more or less supervised by the state or an adjacent hotel, in areas where rip currents are present, identification signs are always installed and there are information boards with a short instruction "what to do if ...".

And there are spontaneous rip currents that arise each time in a new place and with different characteristics. Here they are - the most terrible, dangerous for their unpredictability. There is a mother with a child waist-deep in water, for four hours already playing in one place and everything is fine. Then noise, foam, mother and child do not even have time to shout, as it turns out a hundred meters from the shore. It's very scary.

What is the danger of such currents

This is an incredible, paralyzing horror, when you don’t understand what is happening and you see that the shore is getting further and further, and no one on the shore also understands how to help and what to do. What is sad is that even a husband who jumped after him or a passer-by who does not know about the rip current and how to deal with it has every chance of dying. Did I manage to scare you? Do you understand how serious this is? So.

People are not killed by the sea, not by the rip current, and not even by poor swimming skills, but by panic. Panic makes it difficult to assess the situation, make a decision, panic interferes with everything and pushes most morally unprepared people to the most obvious, but the most disastrous act - to row back to the shore.

Even an Olympic champion is not able to row against the current at a speed of 15 km / h. I am not having a nightmare now - swimming masters, strong, trained athletes, were drowning in rips. After all, you need to row not just fast, but faster than the stream in order to get to the shore. Panic makes people wave their arms until they are completely exhausted, which leads to their death.

How to escape in a rip current

A rip is just a stream a few steps wide, and to get out of it you just need to row not to the shore, but to the side. You are in the river, which means that now it is the calm sea that is the shore and salvation for you, swim towards it. Do not resist the flow, swim, gradually rowing to the side, the primary task for you is to get out of the flow. And if you find so much courage in yourself, then lie down on your back and wait - in a minute or two the stream will let you go. After that, swim away to the side and start returning to the shore.

It is very important to save strength and breath, not to let panic paralyze the will. A rip current is not a whirlpool, it does not pull to the bottom. While you swim out, on the shore they will already figure out how to help you and give Buddha if you were in your right mind and swam on the beach with lifeguards, and not somewhere in the wilderness. And I will not say anything about the case if you still do not know how to swim. Although no, I will have one piece of advice for you - buy a PPE board for swimming, tie it to your wrist and enter the sea only where there are no prohibition flags and where a person with a lifebuoy is on duty on the tower.

How to understand where there are rips

The main sign of the danger of the rip is red flags and a lifeguard running along the beach, who waves his arms and swears at you in all languages ​​of the world. But rip currents also have other external signs that will help you notice the danger even without flags in the sand:

• The rip is a river in the sea. If in the general pattern of waves you saw seething water or a clear strip perpendicular to the shore, this is it.
• The difference in the color of sea water. The whole beach is blue, and in one place the water brightens to white - this is a rip.
• Marine debris, algae, foam, which move from the shore into the sea in an unusually organized manner - this is a rip.

P.S. Don't get into a rip. And if you do, don't panic.

Life hack #1 - how to buy good insurance

Choosing insurance is now unrealistically difficult, so to help all travelers. To do this, I constantly monitor forums, study insurance contracts and use insurance myself.

Hi friends. How can you go to the sea and not want to swim? We are especially attracted by exotic countries and warm seas. Even if you are an excellent swimmer, you are not afraid of waves, you can still get into a very unpleasant situation on the water. And sometimes, a very dangerous situation. We want to tell you about rip currents, or "draughts".

For lovers of the sea, they are one of the biggest dangers on the water. Most importantly, it is very difficult to detect such a flow “by eye”. They usually form spontaneously close to the coast.

Today we will talk about a very dangerous phenomenon. It is found in the sea and is not so rare. Its strength may vary. It's about rip currents. They were called rips, from English - rip current. They are also called "draughts" due to the fact that they literally drag a person in the course of their course. They are present not only somewhere far, far beyond the oceans. Rips are even on the Black Sea. But, more often found in the Gulf of Mexico, in Bali.

The worst thing is that even a professional swimmer, once in a rip, will not be able to cope with the current. Preparing for this is difficult, but you need to know how to behave correctly. Then the drag will become only an unpleasant adventure, and the person will safely leave the rip zone.

What is a rip

Imagine a summer day by the sea. You decide to take a dip, and everything is going great. Gentle waves, pleasant sun. The man swam and decides to return back to the shore. This is where the problems begin, because you are sailing with all your might, but you remain in one place or even worse - the sea is pulling back. A person begins to panic, he is exhausted, he wastes energy.

This is the most dangerous moment - fear, panic, lack of understanding of what is happening.

Rips form at right angles to the coastline. This is the zone where the tidal wave moves away from the shore. The most dangerous places where this can happen are shallow water, especially near sandbars that prevent the free flow of water. Here the speed inside the rip can reach 3 meters/second!

Most often, they appear during high tides, when masses of water return from the coast back to the sea at different speeds.

Schematically it looks like this:

Rip is easy to see from the air or from an elevated position, but right on the water it can be invisible. This is another of his dangers - it is impossible to predict where he is.

By the way, from time to time you can meet small currents 2-3 meters wide. You probably don't even notice them. This is not dangerous.

The real danger is represented by rip currents, but 200-300 meters deep into the sea, the width of which reaches 50 meters.

Friends, now we are in Telegram: our channel about Europe, our channel about Asia. Welcome)

How to recognize a dangerous rip current

Remember what it looks like:

• A stream of seething water is clearly visible perpendicular to the shore.
• The draft zone has a different color or shade of water.
• We noticed sea plants, some kind of garbage or just foam, which quickly move in a straight line towards the open sea.
• A break or several breaks in the tidal wave are visible.

Did you see any of this? Super! Do not go swimming in this place and warn other bathers of the danger.

The worst of all are rips, which cannot be visually distinguished from ordinary waves. They can appear spontaneously even when they are already in the sea.

Its strength is great, so that even a person who is standing in the water can be caught by a sudden current. Unfortunately, this is how those who cannot swim rest. For them, it can be deadly.

Do not swim where rips occur frequently. This is usually reported in the weather report.

Watch out for red flags on the beach, even if the water seems calm. Red flags indicate a serious danger to swimmers.

How to behave if you get into a rip

1. Get over the panic. Pull yourself together and act wisely and meaningfully. Remember - there is a way out of the situation!

It is very important to quickly understand what happened. You can get out of a short rip quickly, without effort. Long can be intimidating. Better concentrate and remember these simple rules.

2. You don't need to swim to the shore - that's how you lose strength.

Swim parallel to the shore, because the rip is a "channel". It can be narrow, from 2-3 meters to 50 meters.

3. Are you swimming parallel to the shore, but it doesn't help?

We have already said that such a region is not infinite in the course of time. Just stay on the water and don't lose sight of the shoreline, the current will carry you away from the shore, but the rip will end soon. As soon as you feel it, immediately swim to the side for 50-100 meters.
Most importantly, don't let fear take over you! Yes, it is unpleasant to get into a rip current, but it is better for him to submit than to fight him.

Important information

Remember, that:

1. It will not drag you to the bottom, rip works differently.
2. Wider than 50 meters they are very rare.
3. The length is always limited! Just wait, it will be over soon.

We wish you a safe sailing and happy holidays!

This article was produced by our experienced team of editors and researchers who reviewed it for accuracy and completeness.

Number of sources used in this article: . You will find a list of them at the bottom of the page.

If you are not a good swimmer, ask for help. Reverse currents are especially dangerous for people who cannot swim. If you are not sure that you can get to the shore on your own, call the lifeguards, wave your arms and call for help.

Try to swim parallel to the shore so as not to fall into the ebb current. Most ebb currents are about 9m wide, but they can be as large as 30-60m. Instead of trying to swim against a current that is much stronger than you, swim parallel to the shore to try to swim out of the ebb current. The current will carry you further away from the shore, but don't panic. This is not a reliable method, but for a good swimmer this option should help. If possible, look for signs of a backflow before diving into the water:

Save energy if necessary. If you are swimming, but not moving forward, if you are very tired, save your strength. Float on your back or simply float, rather than trying to resist the current. As soon as you swim through the breaking waves, the current will slow down and branch into several streams, becoming weaker and weaker. If you do not have the strength to return to shore, stay afloat and relax until you gain strength. Keep calling for help if there are other people on the shore.

According to beach lifeguards, in various cities of Thailand, Russian tourists, like no one else, ignore the rules of conduct on open water, as a result of which incidents with them are the most common. That is why we want to talk in detail about the danger that, at times, lurk in the azure coastal waters of the kingdom.

Underwater currents or, as they are indicated on warning signs, Rip current, can be a great danger to a swimmer even at a close distance from the coast (at a depth of waist, and sometimes even ankle-deep). In a matter of seconds, they are able to carry even the most experienced and strong swimmer far into the open sea. RIPs can be the result of ebbs and flows or occur due to subsidence of underwater soil, or are formed from monsoon winds - there are many options and it is sometimes very difficult to predict them.

What is the danger?

There are several options for the development of events, depending on how far a person is from the coast.

1. The most common is when those who want to splash in the depths swim far from the shore. After the swimmers have enjoyed the open sea to their heart's content, they try to return, but they realize that no matter how hard they try, not only are they not getting closer, but they are even further away from the shore.
2. Another option is when at a shallow depth (from the ankle to the waist) the bathers realize that they are simply not able to get out of the water, and the so-called “squeeze” current (which occurs when the wave rolls back from the shore) pulls them to an ever greater depth, and from there to the open sea.
3. And finally, the third option, when vacationers, also at shallow depths, frolic in the surf and do not follow its interval. In this case, the first unnoticed wave knocks the swimmer off his feet, the second one covers, depriving him of oxygen and dragging him to a great depth. The man tries to get up, but he is again covered and pulled away by the next wave. At some point, a swollen, exhausted and completely disoriented swimmer realizes that there is no longer a bottom under his feet, and he is blown into the sea.

Why do we describe these situations in such detail?

The fact is that even though Russia is washed by 13 seas, most of the inhabitants of our country are simply not familiar with the nature and laws of the oceans. It is very difficult for a person who has never lived by the sea to understand how one can drown while knee-deep in water?

In addition, many of our compatriots consider themselves very experienced and strong swimmers - every day they swim a kilometer in the pool in their homeland or even have a sports category in swimming. And therefore, they will definitely cope with some kind of flow there.

Still others naively believe that such things can happen to anyone, but not to them. The Russian mentality is very often aggravated under the influence of alcoholic beverages, without which many people cannot imagine rest. The result of all this is a large proportion of Russian tourists among those drowned off the coast of Thailand.

girl case

For those who still doubt the insidiousness of the sea king, we will give an absolutely incredible story of one girl who decided to take a picture on the shore, standing ankle-deep in water, at a time when the beach was closed for swimming.

In a series of five photographs taken over a period of 30 seconds, you can clearly see how the first wave begins to pull the posing girl into the sea, while the second wave is already coming from behind, knocking her down and pulling her even further. In the next frame, we see a girl who is completely in the seething water already a few meters from the place where she was photographed.

Saved the girl. But the commotion on the beach was strong.

How do you know if you can swim?

With our article, we do not want to say that you cannot swim in Thailand, this is not so. You can and should swim, but after learning from local residents and beach workers about the danger and carefully monitoring the behavior of the ocean.

Many beaches today have special signs indicating the presence of Rip current. If red flags are posted, it means that swimming is strictly prohibited. Remember, you will not be forcibly kept ashore, as they do, for example, in Vietnam. But know that by climbing into the water, you risk not only your life, but also the life of rescuers or other people who, in case of emergency, will rush to your aid.

It is most likely to fall into the paws of the undercurrent during the monsoons, which come at a certain time. In Phuket, for example, it is May-October. Also, due to the different underwater landscape, the beaches have a different probability of occurrence of such phenomena. Again, in Phuket, Karon, Surin, Kata, Kata Noi and Nai Harn enjoy a bad reputation in this regard.

Rules of conduct on the water

1. Before entering the water, make sure the beach is open for swimming (red flags indicate that swimming is prohibited);
2. Don't swim behind the buoys;
3. Children should never swim alone on a beach where counter currents are possible;
4. Watch the wave cycle. Always keep them in sight;
5. When leaving the sea, make sure that the waves coming from behind do not knock you off your feet;
6. Have a safety pin in your trunks in case your arm or leg cramps.

If you are caught in a Rip current and you are carried away from the shore

• Don't try to fight the elements. The very first thing you have to do is to control yourself and deal with the panic.
• Notice the landmarks on the shore, then to understand where to return.
• You can choose any of the ways to deal with RIP:

1. Further, slowly, saving strength, start swimming along the coast, i.e. perpendicular to the flow.
2. Start rowing towards the shore only when you feel that you have swum out of the current or got into a countercurrent that is carrying you to the shore. Be prepared for the fact that you will have to swim quite a lot (300-400 meters, and possibly a kilometer).

Bathing in coastal waves:

1. Ocean waves are longer and more powerful than sea waves. For those who are used to swimming in the sea, this sometimes becomes an unpleasant surprise.
2. If you do not know the features of the bottom (you can get acquainted with it at low tide), do not go into the sea into the waves. This is fraught with dangerous injuries.
3. Always notice the cycle of the waves and keep them in your field of vision.
4. If the wave knocked you down and swirled underwater, hold your breath and relax. So you save oxygen, and your cerebellum will quickly understand where the bottom is, and where the top is. As you surface, be aware of the wave interval.

Have a safe holiday!