Dangerous rip tides lurk off Manatee coast. But chief won’t have more lifeguards until 2019

The rip currents off Manatee’s coastline have become increasingly dangerous, a leading cause in 30 marine rescues in just the past month. Now officials want to add lifeguards — but they may have to wait until 2019.

Marine Rescue Chief Joe Westerman says there have been “some serious rip currents” in the past 30 days. Rip currents occur when channels of water move quickly away from the shoreline.

In that month, Westerman said they’ve performed 30 water rescues. Twenty-four rescues have been rip current rescues — an extremely high figure, as Westerman pointed out they’ve gone an entire year without having 24 rip current rescues.

Every year, U.S. lifeguards rescue tens of thousands of people from rip currents, but it is estimated that 100 people are killed by rip currents annually, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Earlier this month, 25-year-old Joseph S. Teston died after he nearly drowned off the coast of Anna Maria Island. He was pulled out of the water by witnesses after he was seen swimming about 25 to 30 feet from the shore in rough waters and was taken to a hospital, but did not survive.

Despite all the work his staff does to enforce and speak with those who may be at risk to prevent incidents, Westerman said they can’t stop them all. So, they’re looking at new ways to inform the public of beach conditions and increase prevention.

Westerman said they want to add six lifeguards to their staff, which would expand guarded beach coverage toward Cortez Beach and offset the rest of their existing coverage. That may not come until fiscal year 2019, and is pending approval.

Jennifer Persin, who was at Cortez Beach with her family Wednesday afternoon, said she came to that location specifically because it has a lifeguard.

“Especially with the Tropical Storm out there, that’s what’s churning up all the water today,” Persin said.

She noted that she would go to Cortez beach, especially with children, if there were lifeguards in the area.

But they’re not just looking to add manpower. Westerman said that as the county works to redesign its web page, Marine Rescue hopes to include flag and beach conditions on the site. It’s something they’ve been working on with Manatee County for about a year.

“Until that happens, the most important thing you can do is check in with lifeguards working on the beach,” Westerman said.

The beach conditions are currently updated about twice a day on visitbeaches.org, but Westerman added that his staff can get busy and those updates may not always be time-sensitive. Tuesday, a red flag flew in Manatee Beach, while a yellow flag flew at Coquina Beach.

Westerman encourages beach-goers to visit areas with lifeguards to stay safe and be aware of conditions before going to the beach. Conditions, he said, are always changing and those who get caught in a rip current can panic and become exhausted.

“The safest bet is to work where the pros work every day,” Westerman said.

Those who may find themselves caught in a rip current should remain calm and swim parallel to the shoreline until they are out of the rip current.

This story was originally published June 20, 2017 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Dangerous rip tides lurk off Manatee coast. But chief won’t have more lifeguards until 2019."