Home Owners Association members learn about water safety. The meeting was held on the first floor of the Jersey Shore Arts Center. Photo by Paul Goldfinger

By Charles Layton

As you may have heard, three smallish sharks were seen on Friday swimming playfully offshore from Ocean Grove.

Even though the sharks never came into the bathing area, lifeguards cleared swimmers from the water for a time.

And the day before that, a large number of stingrays were spotted.

Michelle Davidson, Ocean Grove’s lifeguard manager, confirmed those incidents at the OG Home Owners Association meeting on Saturday.

However, in her presentation on water safety, Davidson mentioned sharks and rays only in passing. Her real concern was rip currents, which are powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water that form frequently along our coast as sand bars shift beneath the surface. A person caught in a rip current can quickly be swept out to sea. They are the main cause of drowning at the Jersey Shore.

These currents are pretty much constant, but of varying strength, near piers and jettys, so it’s a good idea not to swim in those areas at all. But such currents can form anywhere along the beach. Davidson said they are often visible from the lifeguard stands, because the current picks up sand, rendering the water a lighter color.

Other signs of a rip current are a channel of churning, choppy water or a line of foam or debris moving seaward.

If you get caught in such a current, she said, relax, because if you panic and try to fight the current you’ll likely become exhausted. She suggested trying to float on your back or tread water. As the current pulls you away from shore, it will usually weaken.

Sometimes one can escape a rip current by swimming toward the side of it.

This poster shows the movement of water in a rip current and the possible directions of escape.

Davidson gave several tips for safety at the beach, the main one being: never swim alone in the ocean.

If you see someone in trouble, she advised calling the beach office immediately: 732-988-5533. This is quicker and more effective than calling 9-1-1, she said. Until Labor Day the beach office is open from 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. And even though the lifeguards are officially off duty after 5:30 p.m., some stay around to patrol up and down or just sit and watch.

Davidson explained the flag system now in use at the beach. A yellow flag means low hazard. A red flag means high hazard. A double red flag means the beach area is closed, either because of hazards or because of water quality. (Water quality closings have become a rare event along our shores.)

The warning system used to include a green flag, which meant one could swim but should exercise caution, but that has been discontinued because it’s message was unclear. “To most people, green just means go,” she said.

People swimming at Ocean Grove should also know that the north end beach — in the area of Seaview Avenue — is for surfers only, and that the south end includes a section of beach where boogie boards are not allowed.

Lifeguard manager Michelle Davidson. Photo by Mary Walton