Great Lakes swimmers: Beware of potentially deadly rip currents

ANN ARBOR—Rip currents in the Great Lakes are a deadly but largely unknown phenomena, and the University of Michigan, through the Michigan Sea Grant College Program, has joined a national campaign to educate the public about the potentially fatal waters.

People often associate rip currents—channel currents that can sweep them from shore—with oceans, said Donald Scavia, professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), and director of Michigan Sea Grant, a joint program between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. It is administered through the School of Natural Resources and Environment at U-M.

In the past two years, at least 18 people have drowned in the Great Lakes, and experts believe a majority of these deaths probably happened because people panicked when a rip current pulled them from shore. Nationally, lifeguards rescue approximately 60,000 people from drowning a year, and an estimated 80 percent are caused by rip currents. Additionally, an estimated 100 people drown from rip currents annually—more people than are killed by tornadoes or lightning, Scavia said.

Rip currents form when waves break near shore, piling up water between breaking waves and the beach.

"If the beach is set up just right, the water comes up on the shore and it will collect and shoot out in a small underwater river