By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

With some of summer’s warm days hopefully still to come, beachgoers may be looking to the ocean for relief. But as swimmers dive into the waves to cool off, they should be aware of potentially dangerous rip currents.

Marine Geologist Stephen Dickson of Maine Geological Survey said rip currents are produced by the return flow of waves and breaking surf, and are amplified by breaks in sandbars.

“Sometimes there is a trough and then you step up on a sand bar. Those sandbars are like dotted lines along the beach, and water rushes through the gaps back into the ocean,” Dickson said. 

Beside sandbars, he said low points in the breaking waves or lines of foam rushing out to sea can indicate the presence of a rip current.

On Biddeford beaches, lifeguards have a colored flag system to alert swimmers to water conditions. Head lifeguard Christopher Lessard said green indicates safe swimming or surfing, yellow urges swimmers to use caution, red means the surf is dangerous, orange is flown when there is a presence of rip currents and a black flag means no surfing.

“We practice prevention more than anything else,” Lessard said. “Our guards are at the waters edge informing the public of danger.” 

National Weather Service meteorologist Dan St. Jean said rip currents aren’t forecasted because conditions are not the same for all the beaches. 

“Rip currents are difficult to predict because it is more than wind and waves. It involves the steepness of the coastline, jetties, river mouths and the way waves change the ocean bottom. Rip currents are also beach-specific. Five foot seas might be a factor at Old Orchard Beach, but not at Kennebunkport,” St. Jean said. 

He said strong storms offshore, such as tropical storm Bertha in July, cause bigger swells favorable to producing rip currents. 

As tropical storm Bertha lingered off the coast, it caused high surf and many rescues in Old Orchard Beach. Head lifeguard Keith Willett said lifeguards on Old Orchard Beach made 14 rescues July 17. 

“It was a combination of the rip current along the pier, the wind and surf [that led to rescues],” Willett said. 

Old Orchard Beach Fire Chief John Glass said the town only documents rescues that require further care from the Old Orchard Beach rescue personnel, but estimated while three to four swimmers a week may require assistance, only three to four rescued swimmers a season require further treatment.

Lessard said the tropical storm’s impact was not felt as much on Biddeford beaches.

“[Biddeford] only had two rescues that day. Old Orchard Beach had 14 rescues, but they have many more people [to watch] than we do,” Lessard said.

Willet said there are 12 lifeguard posts along Old Orchard Beach with an average of 20 lifeguards watching out for beachgoers each day.

While Old Orchard Beach is busy with rescues, Kennebunk Fire Chief Steve Nichols said head lifeguard John Suttie hasn’t reported any rescues lately.

“Our [Kennebunk] beaches are protected with Narragansett Point and the jetties. We’re fortunate not to have the problems other beaches do,” Nichols said. 

Biddeford lifeguard director Carl Walsh said while they are always on the look out for rip currents,  guards spend a lot of time training.

“Our head guard checks out the weather and picks some of the worst days to go out and train. The guards do mock rescues to give them a good feel of how to handle a rescue and feel confident about it,” Walsh said.

The Old Orchard Beach lifeguards train every morning, Willett said. He said after a two-mile run, they use various methods including mock rescues, to football style workouts and swimming short and long distances to prepare for potential emergency situations.

“The mock rescues are a good experience, but not the same as a real rescue. It just gives them a good idea of how much [effort] a rescue takes,” Willet said.

A lifeguard’s job is to protect swimmers, but the National Weather Service, National Sea Grant and the United States Lifesaving Association teamed up to host a Rip Current Awareness week at the beginning of June to educate the public how to “break the grip of the rip.” 

“If you do get pulled out, the main thing I tell people is not to panic. If you are caught in a current, don’t fight it. Swim parallel along the coast and out of the current’s pull, then toward shore. It won’t take you out forever, it will eventually release you,” Lessard said. 

Dickson said swimming directly toward shore leads quickly to exhaustion, which is often the case in drowning incidences. 

“Swimming against a current is like running on a treadmill,” Dickson said.

Once beyond the breakers, he said the current will subside, but advises swimmers caught unaware by rip currents to remain calm and take time to swim parallel and back to shore.

As part of Rip Current Awareness week, the National Weather Service encouraged beachgoers to swim on lifeguard-attended beaches.

Local beaches with lifeguards include Crescent Beach in Cape Elizabeth, Willard Beach in South Portland, Scarborough Beach State Park, Ferry Beach State Park in Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Biddeford Pool, Middle and Fortunes Rocks beaches in Biddeford and Gooch’s and Mother’s beaches in Kennebunk.