Media Advisory - "Break The Grip of The Rip"
When: Sept. 16-18, 2005, Mexican Independence Day, noon news conf. 9/16
Who: 23 local lifeguards from Imperial Beach, Silver Strand State Beach, and other southern California lifeguard agencies.
What: Volunteering their time at Mexican beaches lifeguarding and posting rip current warning signs. Last year over 40 people drowned along a 65-mile northern Baja California coast.
In response to seven people drowning in June 2004, Imperial Beach lifeguards organized a lifeguard volunteer program for Baja California.
Volunteer lifeguards will be working side-by-side with Mexican lifeguards to post rip current warning signs and patrol beaches.
Where: September 16, noon news conference with posting of signs at Playas de Tijuana (Tijuana, Baja California) and lifeguarding remainder of day
September 17 lifeguarding and posting signs at La Mision beach (south of Rosarito; majority of drownings have occurred at this beach)
September 18 lifeguarding and posting signs at La Mision beach (south of Rosarito; majority of drownings have occurred at this beach)
Why: To save the lives of ocean swimmers caught in rip currents among the tens of thousands of beachgoers anticipated along northern Baja California beaches during the holiday weekend.
The Rip Currents signs are the result of a national campaign, Break The Grip of The Rip, co-sponsored by NOAA’s National Sea Grant & National Weather Service & the U.S. Lifesaving Association. See www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov for graphics and information.
Locally: California Sea Grant has donated 40 Rip Current safety signs in Spanish to be posted at beaches in Baja California, Mexico, by southern California lifeguards. A total of 300 signs (½in English, ½ in Spanish) have been posted along Southern California beaches, with another 234 ready for distribution. This is the first time that permanent rip currents warning signs have been posted at local beaches.
Contact: Imperial Beach Lifeguard Aaron Quintanar, Aqsurf@aol.com, 619-231-5923, or California Sea Grant Communications Director, Marsha Gear, mgear@ucsd.edu, 619-227-4470.
Photos: Contact Marsha Gear, mgear@ucsd.edu, 619-227-4470, for photos of the 9/16 events.
Nationally: As of Sept. 7, 2005, more than 12 Sea Grant programs nationwide have produced and distributed:
3,600 Rip Currents safety signs
5,500 posters
6,500 table tents*
10,000 refrigerator magnets*
thousands of brochures
numerous news releases
*distributed to hotel rooms along the coast
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