Extreme Caution Advised
SWIMMERS ALONG THE Jersey Shore need to take rip currents and the strong surf seriously.
For nearly the last week there have been turbulent surf and what is commonly called rip currents along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline creating hazards for swimmers.
“It’s been an unbelievable summer for this. It really has,” said C. Read Murphy, manager of Sea Bright’s Office of Emergency Management, speaking of the dangerous surf.
In less than a week there have been two fatalities in the Two River Area. On Friday, Aug. 7 authorities recovered the body of Andros Vega-Pena, a 25-yearold Red Bank man, who apparently drowned while swimming off of Gateway National Recreation Area at Sandy Hook on Aug 5. Authorities said Vega-Pena had been swimming off of an area of the federal park that doesn’t have lifeguard coverage and it was in the early evening after quitting time for the park’s guards.
This Tuesday, Kevin C. Searfoss, 18, Rockaway, died at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, after having been pulled from the rough water off of an unprotected area of Sea Bright’s beach on Monday.
Charles Rowe, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, said, “There are significant rip tides in the New York Harbor area waters.” Those waters include areas from Sandy Hook Bay to Jamaica Bay, according to Rowe.
The U.S. Coast Guard is usually called in for offshore rescues and searches, as was the case with the Sandy Hook incident. But not being the lead agency Rowe declined to speculate as to the impact of the currents and surf in theses or other incidents.
Both Sandy Hook and Sea Bright in the last week have had to post red flags, alerting bathers of potentially hazardous water conditions.
According to Murphy, the red flag means those looking to go in for a dip, are usually restricted to knee-height water levels.
On Monday Sea Bright lifeguards increased the warning to two red flags, keeping beachgoers out of the ocean entirely for portions of the day.
Overall this summer, “My guards have been working their butts of f pulling people out of these rip currents.” Murphy maintained he hasn’t seen rip currents this daunting in approximately 20 years.
What’s causing the rough surf lately was a recent strong storm off of the southeast coast and strong offshore winds, according to David Robinson, state climatologist with Rutgers University.
For those interested, Robinson explained a rip current (and its “rip current” not “rip tide”) occurs when a combination of surf and the topography of the beach surf floor during the normal ebb and flow of the water form a certain configuration. “Instead of bringing it (the water) all back evenly,” Robinson said, “the water funnels into narrow channels.” Rip currents can usually be seen from the beach, with the water in the currents a slightly different color, “because it can be a little bit more turbulent, with a little bit more sand in it that’s been stirred up,” he said, noting it often occurs when there is an accompanying overall rough surf.
“What it does is it starts pulling you very, very quickly,” if a swimmer gets caught in it, Robinson said. And while “We’re not talking miles out to sea,” he added, “it could be several hundred yards out.” And that can be enough to over whelm a weaker or tired swimmer trying to make it back to sure, he warned.
Rip currents can happen any time of the year. But in mid-to-late August is when we find the warmest water temperatures and hot days, meaning more people at the beaches and going in for a swim to cool off, Robinson explained.
Those spoken to all offered the same advice: Don’t try to swim against the current; it’s best to try to swim away from it, possibly going in a perpendicular direction, “and make you’re way back to shore and hopefully help will come,” Robinson said.
“It’s easy to get in trouble and go down pretty fast,” if a swimmer gets caught in the rip current, Robinson warned. “You can go down pretty fast.”
“Obviously, this is just another reason why you should not swim in an unguarded beach,” he advised.
“I would say the lifeguards are there for a reason and people disregard them at their own peril,” the Coast Guard’s Rowe offered, “and that peril is quite obvious.”
Caution is always advised, McCarthy said, because, “The water is always unpredictable.”
Peter McCarthy, Sandy Hook unit coordinator for the National Park Service, said this week that the park’s lifeguards so far this summer season, “have been a little bit busier than last year at this time,” but not significantly more. The issue at Sandy Hook’s beaches isn’t so much rip currents.
“What we’re experiencing is heavy surf issues,” McCarthy said.
