FEW people - even those who live on the coast - understand how rip currents work according to Dr Rob Brander from the University of NSW.
It is why most surf drownings and the great majority of rescues are the result of rip currents.
Dr Brander has spent several years trying to educate beach-goers about the danger of rip currents including how to spot them and how to swim out of them.
He said people know to look both ways before crossing the road and should also spend several minutes studying the beach before heading into the water.
It may well save the lives.
Dr Brander will be travelling to Mollymook this week to give his first ever talk south of Wollongong.
The highly visual talk will commence at 4pm at the Mollymook Surf Club and will last for about an hour.
It will be followed by the release of a harmless purple dye into a rip along Mollymook Beach to show people more clearly how rip currents work - including where they go and how fast they go.
Dr Brander is encouraging as many people to attend as possible,
He said they would walk away with an increased knowledge and appreciation of beaches as well as an increased confidence.
Dr Brander said rip currents could be found on any beach there is breaking waves.
They pose a particular threat to public safety on the great majority of Australian beaches that are unpatrolled.
Dr Brander estimates that only four per cent of Australian beaches are patrolled by lifeguards.
He also believes that the number of deaths resulting from rip currents is seriously underestimated.
Dr Brander said that up until a few years Australia had been "behind the eight ball" in terms of public education about rip currents.
While the tide was starting to turn he said the majority of Australians were still unable to spot a rip.
He said this lack of knowledge was evident on the coast but was a particular problem with those people from further inland.
He said statistics show that most of the people who drown in rip currents at Sydney beaches are from the city's western suburbs - approximately one hour away.
Dr Brander acknowledged that a debate was currently taking place between Surf Life Saving Australia and the Australian Professional Ocean Lifeguards Association about what people should do if they are caught in a rip - either swim out to sea (and out of the rip) or parallel to the beach (and out of the rip).
He told the Times last week that he wasn't taking either side and that he was more interested in helping prevent people getting caught in rips in the first place.
Those people unable to attend Dr Brander's talk tomorrow can purchase his book, 'Dr Rips Essential Beach Book', from book stores or over the internet at scienceofthesurf.com
Dr Brander's trip to the region is being sponsored by the Mollymook Surf Club.
ABOUT 'DR RIP':
Dr Rob Brander is a coastal geomorphologist and senior lecturer in the University of NSW's School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences.
He has been studying beaches and surf zones for 20 years having completed a BSc and MSc at the University of Toronto where Canadian water temperatures convinced him to live in Australia.
He completed PhD on the morphodynamics of rip currents at the University of Sydney in 1997.
Dr Brander started giving community 'Science of the Surf' talks in 2001 and developed his school SOS program in 2006.
In 2009 he travelled through the United States meeting and working with rip current scientists and educators in California, Maryland, Delaware, North and South Carolina and Florida.
He is a member and ex-caretaker of the Tamarama Beach Surf Life Saving Club and is passionate about surf safety, coastal education and bodysurfing.
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