Rip currents claim over 300 lives in 10 years in Black Sea
GİRESUN
A total of 304 people lost their lives by drowning after getting caught in a rip current in the Black Sea between 2012 and 2022, an expert has stated.
Academic Mustafa Serkan Abdüsselam from Giresun University stated that the number of drowning incidents caused by rip currents, commonly known as "pulling currents," has been increasing year by year.
Emphasizing that between 2012 and 2022, a total of 304 individuals lost their lives in 554 incidents along the 12 provinces with a coastline on the Black Sea, Abdüsselam noted that a significant majority of those at risk of drowning were male, and approximately one-third of them were under the age of 18.
“When we examined the incidents in terms of the gender of victims, 80 percent of them were male, while 20 percent were female. Around 50 percent of males and 75 percent of females were able to survive drowning incidents. In terms of months, we should pay close attention to July and August due to the high figures observed in these periods,” the expert explained.
Abdülsselam also pointed out that Samsun had the highest number of cases, with 98 individuals losing their lives over the 10-year period.
On the other hand, Artvin had the lowest number of deaths, with four individuals drowning, Abdüsselam added.
The expert also noted that within the scope of a project at Giresun University's Augmented Reality Application and Research Center, he and his team will analyze the risk of rip currents in the Black Sea region and develop educational guidelines.
Rip currents usually form around low spots or breaks in sandbars and swiftly move from shallow parts of the sea to deeper areas. Once a swimmer is caught in the current, they are pulled away to deeper waters, with little chance of escape, according to experts. Most deadly drowning cases occur when a swimmer caught in the current starts to panic and tries to swim against it toward the shore, giving up when they become too tired to keep themselves afloat in the water.
