Rip Currents - Know the Danger in Va Beach
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A rip current is a seaward moving current that circulates water back to sea after it is pushed ashore by waves. Each wave accumulates water on shore creating seaward pressure. This pressure is released in an area with the least amount of resistance which is usually the deepest point along the ocean floor. The rip current is narrow and powerful. The rip current consists of water running perpendicular to the beach, out into the ocean. These currents may extend 200 to 2,500 feet (61 to 762 m) lengthwise, but they are typically less than 30 feet (9 m) wide. Rip currents can move at a pretty good speed, often 5 miles per hour (8 kph) or faster.
Rip currents are caused by the shape of the shoreline itself, and they may be sudden and unexpected.
Rip currents also exist in areas where the strength of the waves are weakened by objects such as rock jetties, piers, natural reefs, and even large groups of bathers. Rip currents often look like muddy rivers flowing away from shore.
Rip currents are sometimes mistakenly called "rip tides" or "undertows." These are misnomers. Rip currents are not directly associated with tides and they do not pull people under.
Rip currents are terrifying because they catch you off guard: One minute you're bobbing along peacefully in the surf, the next you're being dragged out to sea at top speed. They occur in all sorts of weather and on a wide range of beaches. Unlike violent, crashing waves, you probably won't notice a rip current until you're right in the middle of it.
They are born out of ordinary, everyday ocean waves. On the most basic level, you can think of ocean waves as travelling fluctuations in water level. On a sandy beach with a gently sloping shore, the swell simply pushes uphill. The climb up the beach drains all the energy of the surge, and the water eventually flows downhill, back to the ocean -- in other words, the water finds its own level again. Ordinarily, this receding flow of water moves with minimal force. The slight slope of the beach effectively spreads out the force over a great distance, so it's not particularly strong at any one point. And since it's weaker than the opposing force of incoming waves, the receding flow usually won't carry you out to sea.
A rip current occurs when the receding flow becomes concentrated in a particular area at a particular time. There are a number of things that can cause this, but the most common is a break in a sandbar. Sandbars are long, narrow hills of accumulated sand along the outer part of the shore. They are formed by the motion of waves and tides.
When a large sandbar forms, it can produce a sort of basin along the ocean shore. Waves move up against the sandbar with enough force to push water into the basin, but the receding water has a hard time making it back over the sandbar to return to sea. This is something like a bathtub with the drain plugged up: Just as the water in a bathtub is being pulled downward by gravity but is blocked by the drain plug, the receding wave is being pulled outward by the ocean (and by gravity), but is kept in by the sandbar.
In some cases, the backward pressure of the receding water may be strong enough to break through part of the sandbar. Other times, the water flows along parallel to the beach until it reaches a low point on the sandbar. In either case, the water that has piled up in the basin rushes out to sea once it finds an opening, just as the water in your bathtub rushes out when you unplug the drain.
HOW TO SURVIVE A RIP CURRENT!! If you get caught up in a rip current, it's crucial that you keep your wits about you. Your first instinct may be to swim against the current, back to shallow waters. In most cases, even if you're a strong swimmer, this will only wear you out. The current is too strong to fight head-on.
Instead, swim sideways, parallel to the beach. This will get you out of the narrow outward current, so you can swim back in with the waves helping you along. If it's too hard to swim sideways while you're being dragged through the water, just wait until the current carries you past the sandbar. The water will be much calmer there, and you can get clear of the rip current before heading back in.
At the posted coordinates, you will be brought to a plaque on the Boardwalk. This plaque gives info to the Beach Project here.
To receive credit for this earth cache, please email, at the same time as you post your found-it log, the answers to the following questions:
1. Look to the north and south along the water. Do you see a rip during your visit? If so, estimate the length it extends out into the ocean.
2. Do you see any color variance in the surf? Describe what it looks like.
3. Is it high or low tide during your visit?
4. Who did the City of Virginia Beach have complete this project?
5. There is a plaque near posted coordinates, Who are the (2) Virginia Senators listed on it?
6. What is the distance from the Boardwalk to the Ocean?
7. What is the elevation your GPSr indicates here?
Last, please post a photo of the area or a rip you observe. While the photo is not necessary, it would be nice and is highly encouraged. You do not have to appear in the picture.
And most importantly: Have fun and be safe in the ocean! Never swim alone! Thank you for your interest in this Earth Cache.
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