November 2022 (ROTM#167) Solana Beach, San Diego, California

I wish I could take all the pictures that I post for Rip of the Month, but that would require non-stop globetrotting so I rely a lot on other sources, one of which are my colleagues at UNSW Sydney. This picture was sent to me by Professor Iain Suthers, a marine scientist and fish guru in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. Iain was recently on a Fulbright Scholarship based in San Diego, California and sent me this picture Solana Beach, just north of San Diego.

 As the sign says, a shark was sighted, but is that a permanent sign? I don’t see any sharks, but I do see a very narrow rip current along the beach. It’s the green line through the whitewater of the surf. There’s also a rather old version of the United States Break the Grip of the Rip safety sign telling you what to do if you get caught in a rip. Does it make sense to you?

Sharks or rips?