Over 100 people a year die in rip currents, according to the National Weather Service. If you know what they are and how to spot them, it could save your life.

Rip currents are easier to spot from higher vantage points, which is why lifeguards are positioned above the beach. Swimmers are advised to choose beaches with lifeguards and pay attention to flag systems, avoiding the water when a red flag is displayed. Rip currents often appear as darker, river-like channels between breaking waves, though they can be difficult to identify from ground level. These currents form when breaking waves push water toward the shore, which then flows back out to sea in narrow, fast-moving channels. If caught in a rip current, swimmers should remain calm, float on their back, swim parallel to the shore to escape the current, and then return to the beach.

How to spot a rip current

It is much easier to spot rip currents from a higher vantage point, and that's part of the reason lifeguards sit up so high, and why it's best to swim at a lifeguarded beach with a proper flag system. Basically, if you see a red flag, don't go out. Now, you can see here where there's that darker water between the breaking waves and white water, and rip currents, they can look like a river in the sea, but again, that can be tough to spot at ground level. Now, here's why rip currents happen. Breaking waves pile up the water along the coast, and then the water has to go somewhere, and the rip currents are the actual narrow channel of fast-moving water flowing directly away from the shore back out to sea. Now, if you find yourself caught in a rip current, don't panic. Float on your back and swim parallel to shore until you are out of the rip current, and then try to head back to shore.

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