Learn how rip currents form
When waves break across a surf zone they push water towards the shoreline. Once that water reaches the shoreline, it has to find a way to get back out to sea, so it often flows into deeper channels where waves are not breaking and away from shore. These deeper channels are rip currents. However, as described in Types of Rips, not all rips are channelised.
Purple dye demonstration revealing a rip
Watch how rip currents form
The science of rip currents
All of our rip current documentaries have profiled the research of leading rip current scientists Professor Rob Brander (aka Dr Rip). Rob is a Coastal Geomorphologist at UNSW Sydney.
For over two decades Rob has been studying rip currents on beaches around the globe, and his research has revealed that these currents are far more complex than once thought. Below is some of Rob’s science that we presented in Rip Current Heroes.
