August 2013 (ROTM#56) Haeundae Beach, Korea

This is a rather incredible photograph sent to me by rip current scientist Joo Yong Lee from Sungyunkwan University in Korea. It's of Haeundae Beach, which is the most popular beach in Korea. Not long before this photo was taken, virtually hundreds of people were swept into a rip current in the middle of the beach and carried offshore. People go to the beach and use the yellow inflatable rings for fun, but unfortunately these rings floated them into the rip!

After everyone was rescued, a human chain of lifeguards and police kept all the swimmers out of the vicinity of the rip. The rip is the darkish sweep of water heading out through the middle of the cordoned off gap. Amazing stuff. As a result of some serious mass rescues at this beach, the Koreans launched a large program into measuring and monitoring rip currents at this beach and they are hosting the 3rd International Rip Current Symposium in 2014.

Police line defines the rip