rip current
Ocean's outbound channel
A rip current is a narrow, powerful channel of water flowing away from shore, created when waves break unevenly along a beach.
Rip currents pull swimmers out to sea and cause most surf rescues.
The standard advice is not to fight the current but to swim parallel to shore until free of its pull.
Sometimes called a riptide, though technically distinct from tidal phenomena.
Away from land
- sandbarUnderwater ridge of sediment
- channelPassage for transmission
- tideOcean's cyclical swell
- wavesTraveling energy disturbances
surf · shoreline · beach · inshore · ebb · flow · littoral · seabed
Death by water inhalation
- hazardousLikely to cause injury
- treacherousDisloyal and dangerous
- life-threateningRisking death
- deadlyAble to cause expiration
fatal · perilous · panic · risk · unsafe · menacing · warning · victim
Paid swimming supervisor
- flotationAbility to stay afloat
- coast guardMaritime safety and rescue service
- rescue boatVessel for saving lives
- jet skiMotorized recreational water vehicle
life vest · helicopter · CPR · first aid · distress signal · beacon · evacuation · survivor
Unbroken forward movement
- surgeSudden powerful increase
- pullForce toward oneself
- dragResistance through fluid
- feederSource of input
neck · head · velocity · turbulence · circulation · backwash · seaward · channelized
offshore
Away from land
waves · surf · shoreline · beach · inshore · ebb · flow · littoral · seabed · breaker
drowning
Death by water inhalation
- hazardousLikely to cause injury
- treacherousDisloyal and dangerous
- life-threateningRisking death
deadly · fatal · perilous · panic · risk · unsafe · menacing · warning · victim · struggling
lifeguard
Paid swimming supervisor
- flotationAbility to stay afloat
- coast guardMaritime safety and rescue service
- rescue boatVessel for saving lives
jet ski · life vest · helicopter · CPR · first aid · distress signal · beacon · evacuation · survivor · spotter
flow
Unbroken forward movement
feeder · neck · head · velocity · turbulence · circulation · backwash · seaward · channelized · flash
- beach safetylifeguard, warning flag, red flag, no swimming, lifeguard tower
- currentsundercurrent, crosscurrent, countercurrent, Gulf Stream, jet stream
- dangersdanger, peril, hazard, risk, menace
- lifeguardinglifeguard, lifeguard stand, rescue tube, rescue buoy, CPR
- nature hazardslightning, wildfire, avalanche, earthquake, tornado
- Ocean Phenomenatsunami, tides, rogue wave, swells, whirlpool
rip currentstill water
Water not flowing
sheltered cove · swimming beach · lagoon · swimming pool · safe harbor
rip currentwave
Oscillating motion through medium
swell · still water · slack water · calm seas · standing water
current, rip, currency, ripped, currently, ripping, rips, currents, ripper