As the weather warms up, more locals will be making their way to beaches. The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has warned parents to ensure that their children have proper responsible adult supervision around water.
“We are appealing to parents to make sure that their children have responsible adult supervision around water,” NSRI said. “And we are appealing to school tours and school groups to be cautious when visiting the coast in large groups and to have adequate responsible adult supervision for the children in their care.”
NSRI also provided the following tips for parents and adults to ensure the safety of children while visiting beaches:
– Swim at beaches that have lifeguards on duty.
– Make sure that you have the local Sea Rescue emergency number in your phone – or google Sea Rescue to find the closest emergency number to the area you are visiting.
– Do not go into the water to try and help someone in difficulty but rather throw them a flotation device (like Sea Rescue’s Pink Rescue Buoy) and call for help.
– Where and when possible Sea Rescue volunteers will patrol beaches where the lifeguarding season has not yet started.
The sea rescue organisation also warned that the Spring Tide’s effect is now leading to the peak of the Full Moon Spring Tide Tuesday.
“The full moon Spring Tide brings a higher than normal high tide, a lower than normal low tide and stronger than normal rip currents. Anglers fishing along the coastline, bathers, beach walkers and coastal hikers are urged to be cautious,” NSRI said.
Rip currents occur constantly, and also change location throughout the day across coasts in South Africa.
“The main concern we have is that this full moon Spring Tide, that has now started to build in intensity, is going to peak on the day school learners return to their classrooms on the 9th October, hence this weekend, the warm weather, a lot more people visiting the coast, and a growing in intensity Spring Tide, is a reason to urge extreme caution. ”
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