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Modelling the alongshore variability of optimum rip current escape strategies on a multiple rip-channelled beach

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Abstract

Rip currents are a leading cause of drowning on beaches worldwide. How bathers caught in a rip current should attempt to escape has been a subject of recent debate. A numerical model of human bathers escaping from a rip current flow field is applied to a 2-km-long section of the open beach of Biscarrosse, SW France. The study area comprises 4 rip channels that visually appear similar from the beach, but exhibit different morphologies. Simulations are run for 2 representative hazardous summer wave conditions. Results show that small changes in the bar/rip morphology have a large impact on the rip flow field, and in turn on the alongshore variability of the optimal rip current escape strategy. The overall flow regime (dominant surf-zone exits versus dominant recirculation), which is found to be influenced by the alongshore dimensions of the sand bars adjacent to the rip channel, is more important to rip current escape strategy than rip velocity. Flow regime was found to dictate the success of the “stay afloat” strategy, with greater success for recirculating flow. By comparison, the dominant longshore feeder current and rip-neck orientation determined the best direction to “swim parallel” towards. For obliquely incident waves, “swim parallel” downdrift then swim onshore with breaking waves was highly successful and can become a simple safety message for beach safety practitioners to communicate to the general public. However, in SW France where rip spacing is large (\(\sim\)400 m), surf-zone eddies have large spatial scales of the order of 100+ m, requiring a large distance (100+ m) to swim to reach safety, therefore requiring good swimming ability. This also shows that in addition to rip current intensity, rip flow regime and the depth of adjacent sand bars, rip spacing is important for defining rip current hazard and the best safety message. Our results also indicate that for normal to near-normal wave incidence, rip current hazard and best rip current escape strategy are highly variable alongshore due to subtle differences in bar/rip morphology from one rip system to another. These findings challenge the objective of developing a universal rip current escape strategy message on open rip-channelled beaches exposed to normal to near-normal wave incidence, even for seemingly similar rip channels.

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Acknowledgments

This study was performed in the framework of Project DECA (INSU/EC2CO). Additional funding was provided by the Australian Research Council (ARC), Surf Life Saving Australia through Linkage Project LP110200134 and the programme “Invited Scholar” (Idex, University of Bordeaux), the latter funding the stay of RJM and RWB at University of Bordeaux. We thank the 3 anonymous reviewers for their comments and constructive criticism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, UMR EPOC 5805, 33615, Pessac, France

    Bruno Castelle & Benjamin Dubarbier

  2. University of Bordeaux, UMR EPOC 5805, 33615, Pessac, France

    Bruno Castelle & Benjamin Dubarbier

  3. Geocoastal Research Group, School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    R. Jak McCarroll

  4. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Robert W. Brander

  5. School of Marine Science and Engineering, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK

    Timothy Scott

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  1. Bruno Castelle
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Correspondence to Bruno Castelle.

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Castelle, B., McCarroll, R.J., Brander, R.W. et al. Modelling the alongshore variability of optimum rip current escape strategies on a multiple rip-channelled beach. Nat Hazards 81, 663–686 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-2101-3

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