{"id":305,"date":"2023-08-04T11:22:56","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T11:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/ripcurrents\/?p=305"},"modified":"2023-09-01T10:56:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T10:56:48","slug":"mass-rescues-and-the-myth-of-the-collapsing-sandbar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/ripcurrents\/2023\/08\/04\/mass-rescues-and-the-myth-of-the-collapsing-sandbar\/","title":{"rendered":"Mass rescues and the myth of the ‘collapsing sandbar’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every year, at many of the busiest surf beaches up and down the exposed southwest of England and Wales, there are days when all the elements come together causing mass rip current rescues<\/strong>.  These incidents are often a result of a volatile mix of strong rip currents, attractive bathing conditions (warm and sunny) and lots of people (e.g., BBC reports from July and August, 2013 http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-cornwall-23496123<\/a>; http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-cornwall-23851640<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cause is often a pulsing rip current that catches bathers and bodyboarders off-guard, moving them into deeper water and offshore, requiring the assistance of lifeguards to help them back to the safety of the beach. The sheer number of people in the water makes these rescues particularly difficult for lifeguards to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wave, tidal and sandbar conditions are often very similar up and down the coast. This means that during especially hazardous days, in holiday periods, mass rescues occur at multiple beaches at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These incidents often attract press attention and there are always some wild explanations in the media for their cause. Many theories put the rescues down to flash rips appearing out of nowhere or the infamous \u2018collapsing sandbar\u2019<\/strong>. This article on a mass rescue at Perranporth in 2005 is a good example of general lack of understanding of rip current behavior (http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/england\/cornwall\/4134220.stm).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This myth has little basis in reality, as sand bars just do not collapse. Dr Rob Brander, a coastal scientist and rip expert from Australia, believes that the myth began on Sunday 6 February 1938 at Bondi Beach; \u201cIt was a beautiful summer day and many of the 30 000 people at the beach were splashing around in the water standing safely on the shallow sand bars. According to eyewitness reports, everything was fine until three large waves approached the shore and broke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after that, a bunch of swimmers suddenly found themselves in deep water being dragged into a deep channel and out to sea. Approximately 60 surf lifesavers conducted a mass rescue during the ensuing hysteria and panic. In the next 30 minutes, 250 bathers required assistance, of which 35 were rescued unconscious and revived, while tragically five drowned\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, that infamous mass rescue is still often reported as being caused by a collapsing sandbar. But, there is a much more likely explanation for these kinds of incident that is in line with what we already know about rip behaviour. A likely sequence of events would be related to a pulsing rip current as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n