July 2015 (ROTM#79) Tamarama Beach, NSW Australia

I haven't posted a good purple dye release for a while so here's an oldie, but a goodie from Sydney's Tamarama Beach. I took this during one of my community 'Science of the Surf' talks several years ago and it clearly shows the trajectory of the rip, and how complex that trajectory can be. Rips don't always just flow straight offshore, they can start by flowing along the beach and can do doglegs, all sorts of things.

What's amazing about this beach in particular is that when there is a rip, it takes up a massive section of beach! The people standing in the water are all on the shallow sandbar next to the rip. It's not uncommon for water to drain sideways off the bar into the rip and that happens particularly after a group of large waves (i.e. a wave set) has broken. People lose their feet and get swept into the rip and out....and many think it's because the sandbar collapsed, which is not true. This picture was used in an article I wrote for the journal 'Science Communication' 

Dye release after a SOS community talk