Coastal Center Featured on CBS

CEE faculty members Jim Kirby and Jack Puleo were interviewed by a CBS news crew for a feature on rip currents, aired on the network's "The Early Show" on Friday, June 17.

Earlier in the week, the crew visited campus to film the two researchers discussing the mechanics of the deadly currents and demonstrating the wave tank in the Center for Applied Coastal Research (CACR). They tracked a rip current using colored dye and plastic floats.

CBS News Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi explained that rip currents are formed when water, wind, and beach conditions combine to create rapidly moving channels of water that flow away from the shoreline, typically through narrow passages in a sandbar.

Rip currents kill more people than hurricanes, tornados, or lightning strikes--typically causing more than 100 drownings per year. The currents parallel the shore, essentially blocking swimmers from returning to the beach.

Puleo gave TV viewers some basic advice for safely dealing with the currents: "Don't panic. Let the rip current carry you out. Don't fight it. Once you get out past the breaker zone, then paddle along the beach, and you'll come back in, and you'll actually have the waves helping you, essentially trying to push you back to shore. ...You can't beat the current. It just can't be done."

Alfonsi went on to explain that CACR researchers use wave tank scenarios in conjunction with computer models to better understand what is happening on the beach.

The researchers hope video images could soon help both lifeguards and swimmers. "They could be watching, essentially, the entire stretch of coastline in their town, and trying to decide if there are hotspots and places they have to look out for," said Kirby.

Also there for the taping was Wendy Carey, a coastal processes specialist for the UD Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service who has been active in the national “Break the Grip of the Rip” campaign sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Lifesaving Association.

Article by Diane Kukich

Photo by David Barczak

Material for this article was taken from UDaily and the CBS web site.