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Rip Current Awareness |
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 NJMSC/NJSG took the lead in 2004 to create a comprehensive rip current awareness campaign for New Jersey which included designing, producing and distributing thousands of metal signs in English and in Spanish, warning swimmers about the danger of rip currents and illustrating what to do if caught in one. The signs were posted at high-traffic beach access and bathing points in essentially every shore community along the New Jersey coast. Thousands of rip current awareness brochures were printed and distributed at municipal buildings, beach badge check-points and other strategic locations from Sandy Hook to Cape May. The initial rip current awareness project was a partnership effort between NJMSC/NJSG and the NJDEP, NJDOT, NJ Travel and Tourism, NOAA-NWS and the NJ State Police OEM.
After NJMSC/NJSG launched its solo rip current project, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS) began developing a nationwide campaign to promote rip current awareness and safety. The campaign, now embraced by Sea Grant and other programs nationwide as well as regional and state agencies and associations is designed to help beachgoers learn how to “Break the Grip of the Rip”. By using the same signs, posters, brochures, podcasts, videos and virtually all forms of multimedia, the national campaign is meant to provide a uniform, cohesive message and means of educating everyone about rip currents and their potential danger. NJMSC/NJSG has now joined the national effort and has begun making a transition to using the resource materials developed by NOAA/NWS.
Municipal officials interested in obtaining additional signs in English or in Spanish can email Jenny McCormick, Coastal Communities Agent for the New Jersey Sea Grant Extension Program at jmccormick@njmsc.org or call her at 732-872-1300 ext 24.
Any municipality or organization interested in arranging for a speaker or special presentation about rip currents for workshops, conferences or public meetings can contact Dr. Jon Miller, Coastal Processes Specialist for the NJ Sea Grant Extension Program at
201- 216-8591 or email him at jmiller@stevens.edu. |
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In 2007 NOAA and the National Park Service decided to team up to educate National Park and Recreation Area beachgoers about rip currents. NJMSC/NJ Sea Grant Communications was asked to coordinate a National Press conference to kick off National Rip Current Awareness Week and announce the new partnership. The event included park lifeguards conducting a mock rip current rescue, and an unveiling of the new National Rip Current Campaign signage.
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