Break The Grip of The Rip!®
Rip Current Awareness Week
June 3-9, 2012

NOAA, the National Sea Grant Program, the United States Lifesaving Association, and the National Park Service want you to have a safe and enjoyable time at the beach or seashore. In an effort to heighten public awareness of rip currents at surf beaches, each year NOAA designates the first full week of June as national Rip Current Awareness Week, coinciding with the traditional start of the summer vacation season. See our media advisory for 2012.

Rip currents are strong narrow currents moving away from shore. The strongest rip currents can attain speeds reaching 8 feet per second; this is faster than an Olympic swimmer can sprint! On average, more people die every year from rip currents than from shark attacks. According to the United States Lifesaving Association, 80 percent of surf beach rescues are attributed to rip currents, and more than 100 people die annually from drowning in rip currents.

NOAA strongly encourages you to use information, graphics, video and all other resources on this and other government pages with some restrictions.

Multimedia

• Ian Crocker Radio Public Service Announcement, English
• Public Service Announcement Spanish
• Rip Current PSA: How to Swim to Safety, 98 mg, Due to file size, NWS strongly recommends downloading this file to your computer rather than playing online. To download, click right side of mouse and select "save link as"
• Rip Current Animation with swimmer
• Rip Current Animation with arrows only
• Rip Current Footage
• Rip Current Videos aimed at Teenagers: 30 second with script, 1 minute with script, 9 minute with script, coming soon
• Photos of rip currents on Delaware, Florida, New Jersey and California beaches
• NOAA-The Weather Channel rip current vignette. Due to file size, NWS strongly recommends downloading this file to your computer rather than playing online. To download, click right side of mouse and select "save link as"AVI (40mg). Also available through Video Transfer above.
• USLA Rip Current Video for Teens
  • 9 minutes, 75mg: mov, mpg, text
  • 60 second, 10 mg: mov, mpg, text
  • 30 second, 5 mg: mov, mpg, text
• Wave Basin demo, mpg
• Interviews:
  • Former NWS Director
  • Coastal Research Scientist
  • Lifeguard
  • Meteorologist, WFO Mount Holly, NJ

B-Roll

For your convenience, the following resources are available on DVD for a nominal fee:

• English and Spanish Language PSAs,
• Animation
• Rip Current Footage
• The four Interviews
• Beachfront Sign

Or order, contact:
Video Transfer, Inc.
5800 Arundel Avenue
Rockville, MD 20852
301-881-0270
Fax: 301-770-9131
videotransfer@movielab.com

More Resources

• State Proclamations for Rip Current Awareness Week
• Rip Current Jeopardy Game, pps
• National Signs, Sticker and Brochures
• Mark Trail Rip Current Cartoon

PowerPoint Viewer