Anyone who has been caught in a rip current knows how scary it can be, but seen from a unique perspective, (not to mention a safe distance) this one is just awesome.
Paraglider Scott Patman snapped this photo of a big rip as it sucked sediment into an epic whorl off the coast of Western Australia near Perth. Dr. Rob Brander (http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/staff/rob-brander), coastal geomorphologist and senior lecturer at Australia's University of New South Wales, posted the photo on his Facebook page, "Dr. Rip's Science of the Surf" (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Rips-Science-of-the-Surf/233716154489) on Friday morning.
Although the photo is impressive, whirlpools tend to "look worse than they are," as Brander explained on his page. "When you get [a] big, clean swell hitting the beach at a strong angle, you get strong longshore currents that can peel offshore forming eddies," he also wrote.
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(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1131260/thumbs/o-AUSTRALIA-WHIRLPOOL-PHOTO-900.jpg?6)
Still, getting caught in a rip current can be quite dangerous, since they can flow outward to sea faster than people can swim (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-hCZuYzNujI#!), according to an educational video by the University of New South Wales.
"Sometimes, they [rip currents] can flow even faster than Olympic swimmers," Dr. Brander notes in the video (below).
The United States Lifesaving Association, a nonprofit organization of lifeguards and open water rescuers, estimates that more than 100 people die in the U.S. from rip currents every year (http://www.usla.org/?page=RIPCURRENTS), and that they account for about 80 percent of rescues performed by surf beach lifeguards.
Science of the Surf (http://www.scienceofthesurf.com/about.html)(SOS) is an Australian public education program developed by Brander that aims to reduce the number of drowning and injures at the beach.
WATCH: How to avoid and survive rip currents
Via: HuffingtonPost