Rip Currents! Recreational Boaters on the Great Lakes Should Be Aware That Commercial ﬁshing Trap Nets May Be Anchored in Some Locations

GREAT LAKES NEWS FROM MICHIGAN SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM

Water Wise: Safety for the Recreational Boater upwellings The U.S. boating public can improve its safety preparedness with this all-in-one boating safety book. The book is geared toward operators of large and small V O L U M E 2 7 | N U M B E R 2 | J U N E 2 0 0 4 recreational boats, in all waterways nationwide.

Don’t Get Trapped! Rip Currents! Recreational boaters on the Great Lakes should be aware that commercial ﬁshing trap nets may be anchored in some locations. Michigan Sea Grant provides information on how to recognize and avoid these nets in the brochure: Don’t Get Trapped! What Recreational Anglers and Boaters Should Know About Be Aware, Swim with Care Commercial Fishing Trap Nets.

HOT off the PRESS! Rip Currents: Break the Grip of the Rip In collaboration with the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA), Michigan Sea Grant has designed new rip current brochures and beach signs for distribution in Michigan, the Great Lakes region and in coastal areas across the nation.

These new materials have been extensively reviewed and vetted by communications and technical representatives from the NWS, NOAA National Sea Grant College Program, and the USLA. The rip current signs and brochures highlight facts about rip currents and include safety tips for swimmers. www.miseagrant.umich.edu/pubs

MICHU-04-801

Non-Proﬁt Organization U.S. Postage Michigan Sea Grant College Program PAID 401 E. Liberty, Suite 330 Ann Arbor, MI Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2298 Permit No. 144 upwellings Public Awareness: Key to Water Safety An upwelling occurs in a lake or ocean when strong, For many people, swimming at a Great College Program, NOAA National Weather steady winds push warm in-shore surface water away Lakes beach is the highlight of the Service and the United States Lifesaving from shore causing colder, nutrient-rich water to rise. summer, whether folks live near the Association in a national media campaign Upwellings is published quarterly by the Michigan Sea Grant College Program. Michigan Sea Grant, a shoreline or travel several hours to reach promoting rip current safety. A media cooperative program of the University of Michigan their favorite destination. As this year’s event on May 24, 2004 in North Carolina and Michigan State University, supports understanding and stewardship of the Great Lakes swimming season approaches, beach- unveiled new beach signs and brochures. through research, outreach and education. Michigan goers will notice a new emphasis on water Designed by Michigan Sea Grant’s Dave Sea Grant is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the State safety and rip currents. Brenner, the materials describe how to of Michigan. recognize rip currents and how to escape Rip currents are powerful currents capable Suggestions for articles or editorial correspondence them. The materials are available for use regarding this or future issues of upwellings are of pulling swimmers far offshore. They can by coastal communities along the oceans welcomed. develop in the oceans and Great Lakes. and Great Lakes. (See the back cover of Joyce Daniels, Managing Editor The U.S. Lifesaving Association reports this issue of upwellings.) (734) 647-0766 that rip currents account for 80 percent [email protected] of lifeguard rescues at surf beaches. Within Michigan, several coastal Dave Brenner, Senior Graphic Artist In Michigan, many popular Great Lakes communities have already formed task (734) 764-2421 [email protected] beaches do not have lifeguards, and forces to promote rip current awareness potential danger is often underestimated. and general water safety. These local Elizabeth LaPorte, Communications Director (734) 647-0767 partnerships are an effective way to [email protected] A number of tragic incidents in the bring together the expertise of a variety Great Lakes over the past few years For a subscription, call (734) 764-1118 of people with a common interest. In or visit the Michigan Sea Grant Web site: www. have accelerated interest in rip currents. miseagrant.umich.edu this issue of upwellings, the feature Scientists have begun to piece together article beginning on page 4 highlights When reprinting material, please give credit to information about water and weather “Upwellings, a publication produced by Michigan Sea some of these activities, scientiﬁc conditions during some of the recent Grant” and send a copy to: progress related to rip currents and key drowning events, and they’re working Upwellings safety facts and tips to help beach-goers Michigan Sea Grant College Program toward a better understanding of the swim safely this summer. 401 E. Liberty, Suite 330 conditions that precede these strong Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2298 currents. This information is critical as the National Weather Service develops a Great Lakes forecasting system to issue accurate advisories to the public.

Michigan Sea Grant has teamed up with Elizabeth LaPorte a number of other Sea Grant programs Michigan Sea Grant Communications Director as well as NOAA National Sea Grant

Michigan Sea Grant Management Team

Donald Scavia, Director William Taylor, Associate Director Phone: (734) 615-4084 Phone: (517) 353-0647

Michigan State University and the University of Michigan Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] are equal opportunity/afﬁrmative action institutions

MICHU#04-801 Jennifer Read, Assistant Director John Schwartz, Extension Program Leader Phone: (734) 936-3622 Phone: (517) 355-9637 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

2 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 GIS Technology Improves CoastWatch Web Site CoastWatch: www.coastwatch.msu.edu The Great Lake Sea Grant Network, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is serving up improved charts of Great Lakes surface water temperatures on its CoastWatch Web site. During the past year, Michigan Sea Grant and the entire CoastWatch team have been working to improve the charts by upgrading the software with the latest in geographic information system (GIS) technology.

In addition to improving the existing lake surface temperature charts, the upgraded system provides the CoastWatch team with a tool that has greater ﬂexibility. The new system enables the team to easily reﬁne parameters and create new charts. In addition, upgrades have provided solutions to maintenance issues, including faster recovery time if the system should fail.

Michigan Sea Grant and the CoastWatch CoastWatch Features team have collaborated with the NOAA-Great • Charts are updated twice a day with plans to Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory increase to four times daily by summer and Michigan State University’s Remote • Whole lake charts of all Great Lakes Sensing and GIS Research and Outreach • Regional lake charts Service to process image data gathered • Port charts - currently 42 with plans to add more by NOAA’s CoastWatch Great Lakes Node. • NOAA polar orbiter satellites provide data for charts Technical experts use computer automated • Images with a lot of grey or black represent cloud- translation of NOAA satellite data to create covered areas isothermic charts. The CoastWatch site For more information about CoastWatch features, contact features whole lake charts for Superior, the CoastWatch team at: [email protected] Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario; 16 regional charts and; 42 port charts. What is an isotherm? As many as 600,000 CoastWatch images An isotherm is a graphic representation of temperature have been downloaded from the site gradients. “Iso” (similar) “therms” (temperatures) are in a five month period, and users have connected points forming lines that are similar to elevation consistently commented on its usefulness lines on a topographic map. When viewing port image maps, in their work and play. The U.S. CoastGuard each line indicates a change in temperature of one degree uses CoastWatch to guide their choice fahrenheit. of protective gear. Hundreds of charter For more information about surface temperature images, captains rely on it to help them find good see www.coastwatch.msu.edu/help.html fishing areas.

upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu 3 BRENNER

Rip Currents Be Aware, Swim with Care On hot summer days, the waters of northern Lake Michigan sparkle invitingly along the popular route U.S.-2, which hugs the shoreline through most of Mackinac County. It’s only at heavily used swimming areas that visitors get a sense of potential danger.

Posted signs advise swimmers to use Rip currents are often associated with The incidents have prompted Michigan Sea caution and warn of dangerous currents. ocean beaches but also occur in the Grant to partner with state, regional and Not far from each sign stands emergency Great Lakes. These powerful currents can national organizations to raise awareness rescue stations—stand-alone units ﬂow one- to two-feet per second, faster of rip currents. As conferences and media complete with life vest, life ring, rescue than an Olympic swimmer. In the past events take place nationally, more than 80 board and solar powered cell phone two years, 18 people have died along the people gathered in St. Ignace in late April programmed to dial 911. shores of Lake Michigan, including seven to learn the latest science behind Great in a single day on July 4, 2003 along Lakes rip currents and the importance of “Lake Michigan can be deceiving,” says southwest Michigan beaches. public awareness as the swimming season Michigan Sea Grant extension agent Ron approaches. Kinnunen, a member of the Mackinac County Water Safety Review Team, which established the stations following a According to the United States Lifesaving drowning in 1998. “Conditions may look safe, but rip currents can develop. If Association, rip currents account for 80 you’re not prepared, you can ﬁnd yourself percent of lifeguard rescues at surf beaches. in trouble pretty quickly.”

4 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 A steep offshore slope is one concern. Kelvin wave—a long-period wave that Force of Nature Recent years of low water levels means travels around the perimeter of the basin, Most swimmers in the Great Lakes that the offshore portion of the beach resulting in rapidly changing water depth probably know the sensation of being along the sandy coasts of the Great Lakes near the shore. pushed off course on a windy day, finding is steeper, explains Meadows. This allows themselves far down shore. larger waves to break closer to shore. Strong currents also typically exist near river mouths where water empties into Now imagine if the same current flowing The configuration of the lake basins may a lake and near engineered structures along shore suddenly headed away from also contribute to unstable conditions. such as piers and jetties. In areas where shore. As water is funneled through a Even though the lakes are huge, their shoreline structures exist, the danger break or low point in a sand bar, it creates basins are enclosed “like giant bathtubs,” to swimmers is compounded. These a rip current. Rip currents are powerful says Meadows. A seiche, or standing wave, structures interrupt the flow of water currents that flow offshore in narrow can occur following storms. Sometimes along shore, creating what Meadows refers channels. If swimmers get caught in a rip called a wind-driven tide, a seiche occurs to as permanent rip currents: “From our current, they need to stay calm. when water is pushed to one side of the underwater survey work with the State, we “Above all, don’t fight the current,” says basin and eventually flows in the opposite can see rip channels around almost all of Kinnunen. “Rip currents are powerful direction, away from shore. Another these structures all of the time.” enough to tire a strong swimmer. The best phenomenon, explains Meadows, is a thing to do is to swim parallel to shore to escape the current.” “Above all, don’t fight the current, Rip currents are typically associated rip currents are powerful enough to with sandy beaches, which often have well-developed sand bars. When waves tire a strong swimmer.” continually break over a sand bar, excess water builds up near shore. Eventually the water flows lakeward through a break or low point in the sand bar, forming a rip current.

Wind-driven waves are the most common way for water to build up near shore. Conditions can be particularly dangerous on windy days when waves are two- to three- feet high or during the aftermath of a storm, when strong longshore currents may be present. Other factors also inﬂuence the development and strength of rip currents.

“We have some unique conditions here in Great Lakes,” says University of Michigan Marine Engineer Guy Meadows, who has studied currents in the Great Lakes for 30 years. “The unique near shore dynamics LIFEGUARD CAPTAIN NICK STEERS, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT of the Great Lakes can combine to create Rip currents often generate a plume of sediment moving away from shore. treacherous conditions.”

upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu 5 passed across Lake Michigan on the Other incidents that Guenther has studied Swim with Caution morning of July 4, 2003 probably created involved four men who drowned in Lake At least four of the drownings that excess water near shore. Even though the Erie near Huron, Ohio in 2002 and one occurred in July 2003 happened on waves diminished to one to two feet by drowning near Duluth, Minnesota in August private beaches where shoreline structures afternoon when the drownings occurred, 2003 on a day when seven other swimmers are known to be present. Another three the wind was still shifting. were rescued. In the Duluth case, says drownings took place nearby in the Warren Guenther, a steady wind blew from the Dunes area. The Michigan Department of “As the wind veered northeast, it northeast for most of the day. Three- to Natural Resources had posted red ﬂags, produced rip channels in the sand bars. four-foot waves hit the shoreline head- warning swimmers to stay out of the When the wind swung to the southwest, it on, or perpendicular to shore, and set up water due to strong longshore currents produced a longshore current later in the conditions that produced what appears to (about .5 mph) and high winds and waves day that followed the rip channels out to be a classic example of a rip current. earlier in the day. sea,” says Guenther.

Winds were a signiﬁcant factor that day, according to Dave Guenther of the NOAA National Weather Service, based Rip currents should not be confused with in Marquette. He has been studying the drowning cases in southern Lake undertows, when water returns to sea after Michigan and several other events that a wave hits the shoreline. have occurred over the past few years. According to Guenther, the squall that

For more information about rip currents and water safety initiatives, contact:

Ron Kinnunen Michigan Sea Grant Extension Upper Peninsula (906) 226-3687 [email protected]

Chuck Pistis Michigan Sea Grant Extension Southwest Michigan (616) 846-8250 [email protected]

Dave Guenther National Weather Service (906) 475-5782 [email protected]

For media inquiries or to request graphics, contact:

Elizabeth LaPorte Michigan Sea Grant Communications (734) 647-0767 COURTESY OF NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE A radar image shows the squall that moved across southern Lake Michigan on July 4, 2003, a day when seven [email protected] drowning fatalities occurred.

6 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 “People who were out there that day said safety, and public service announcements they were having a lot of trouble getting are broadcast on several northern back to shore,” he noted. Michigan NOAA weather radio frequencies throughout the summer. Guenther is working with colleagues from the National Weather Service to develop A new task force in west Michigan will also a rip current forecasting system and is promote water safety via movie trailers, optimistic about the progress: “Hopefully radio, billboards and video. Formed in by next year, we’ll have an advisory 2003, the Great Lakes Beach and Pier program Great Lakes wide.” Safety Task Force involves 15 agencies, including Michigan Sea Grant. The broad- Getting the based safety campaign also includes a Web site where water safety materials and Word Out products will be available for community Most agree, however, that public groups to download and adapt. education about Great Lakes water safety is critical. Even the best “Communities can use whatever advisories may go overlooked if people information they want,” says task force don’t take them seriously. coordinator Vince Deur, “—even if it’s nothing other than putting up a poster at “Travelers to Michigan beaches would a state park rest room.” Deur notes that appreciate receiving local rip current people need to use the same caution as information,” says Michigan Sea they do on the oceans: “A lot of people Grant Extension Agent Chuck Pistis. approach the oceans with more respect “Rather than scaring people away, the than the Great Lakes. Many people don’t MACKINAC COUNTY WATER SAFETY REVIEW TEAM information indicates to families that a understand or believe that the Great Lakes The Mackinac County Water Safety Review Team holds community cares about its visitors. In can be so powerful.” a media day each year to promote water safety. the long run, public education about water safety does more for tourism than it detracts.” Resources on Rip Currents and Great Lakes Water Safety “A lot of people Michigan Sea Grant approach the oceans www.miseagrant.umich.edu with more respect National Weather Service than the Great Lakes.” www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov Great Lakes Beach and Pier Safety Task Force Rip current brochures and beach signs, www.greatlakeswatersafety.org designed by Michigan Sea Grant and produced by NOAA National Sea Grant, Mackinac County Water Safety Review Team NOAA National Weather Service and the Contact: (906) 643-7307 United States Lifesaving Association, will be distributed this summer to coastal United States Lifesaving Association communities on the Great Lakes and www.usla.org oceans. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers In Upper Michigan, the Mackinac County www.lrd.usace.army.mil/gl/gl.htm Water Safety Review Team has held a U.S. Coast Guard media day each year to promote water www.uscg.mil/d9/uscgd9.html

upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu 7 BRENNER

Swimmers dive from the Grand Haven pier—a dangerous and potentially fatal activity. Pier Safety Hidden dangers exist around shoreline structures Powerful currents often ﬂow around piers, Swimmers risk hitting the rocks, getting jetties and other shoreline structures, thrown against them by strong waves or making them particularly dangerous to becoming wedged between them below • Closely supervise children. swim near or around. The structures create the water’s surface. • Life jackets should be worn currents by interrupting the ﬂow of water when on a pier. along shore. Even walking on a pier during adverse • Do not dive off or swim around weather conditions can be fatal. In pier structures. But there are other hazards as well. These one incident in the fall of 2003, strong • Stay off piers during high structures were designed to help ships waves washed over the Grand Haven pier, winds or when waves are navigate safely, and their characteristics sweeping a person into Lake Michigan. washing over. make them dangerous to the public, • Avoid walking on wet, slippery according to the U.S. Army Corps of The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers urges areas. Engineers. Surfaces can become wet and people to use common sense and caution • Stay away from the edge. slippery, and the edges are sharp. near breakwaters, jetties and piers and to • Do not run or climb on pier monitor weather and wave conditions. structures. Never jump or dive from a pier. The stones used to support the steel and concrete— For more information contact: some weighing up to 40 tons—extend Lynn Duerod beyond the pier just below the surface of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the water. (313) 226-4680 [email protected]

8 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 Break the Grip of the Rip!

ESCAPE ESCAPE

IF CAUGHT IN A RIP CURRENT ◆ Don’t fight the current ◆ Swim out of the current, then to shore ESCAPE ESCAPE ◆ If you can’t escape, float or tread water ◆ If you need help, call or wave for assistance

T CUR REN RE CUR RIP CURRENT NT

Rip currents are powerful currents of water moving away from shore. They can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea. BRENNER Illustration of a rip current, created by Michigan Sea Grant’s Dave Brenner, shows the direction of water ﬂow when a rip current forms.

Signs that a rip current Helping someone else: may be present: • Many people have died while trying to • A break in the incoming wave pattern. rescue others caught in rip currents. • A channel of churning, choppy water. • Don’t become a victim yourself. If a lifeguard is not present, shout directions • A line of foam or debris moving seaward. on how to escape the current. • A difference in water color. • If possible, throw something that ﬂoats If caught in a rip current: to the rip current victim. • Stay calm. • Call 911. • Don’t ﬁght the current. The brochure Rip Currents! Break the Grip • Swim in a direction following the shore- of the Rip was produced by NOAA National line (parallel). Weather Service, NOAA National Sea Grant • Float or tread water if you’re unable to College Program and the United States escape by swimming. When the current Lifesaving Association. weakens, swim at an angle (away from the current) toward shore. To order the Rip current brochure or beach • If you cannot reach shore, draw attention signs, see www.miseagrant.umich.edu/rip to yourself. Face the shore, call or wave for details, or call (734) 764-1118. New rip current brochures are being for help. distributed to thousands of beach communities across the country.

upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu 9 Hydrilla Threatens to Invade Michigan Waterways force is developing strategies to keep the invasive plant out of the state and to respond rapidly if it’s found.

One strategy calls for quick action on the part of people who think they’ve spotted hydrilla. Hydrilla Hunt cards (below) provide instructions on how to collect a plant sample using a sharp knife or scissors and where to send the sample for identiﬁcation. The cards also request contact information and basic information about the location.

“We need to know if hydrilla is already here,” says Klepinger. “Michigan citizens play a very important role in helping to monitor the State’s waterways.”

If it takes hold, Hydrilla can quickly

CDFA/IPC form thick mats near the water’s surface, suffocate native plants below, degrade The invasive Hydrilla plant has not yet has been found in at least two Great water quality and impede recreation, been found in Michigan, but scientists Lakes states, Pennsylvania and New York. creating severe economic impacts. aren’t taking any chances. Michigan Sea Grant Extension Specialist Mike Klepinger says early detection may The Michigan Department of Michigan Sea Grant and partners are spare Michigan a similar fate. asking boaters, anglers and swimmers Environmental Quality recently produced to look for hydrilla (hydrilla verticillata) “If hydrilla is found in Michigan, our best a fact sheet on hydrilla, available online. this summer at favorite lakes, ponds and chance to stop it from spreading is to act See: www.miseagrant.umich.edu/ans streams. The aquatic plant has clogged quickly,” says Klepinger, who is a member waterways in many southern states and of Michigan’s Hydrilla Task Force. The task

The Hydrilla Hunt card features a color photo, key plant features and drawings that distinguish hydrilla from the common native plant Elodea. Unlike Elodea, hydrilla is invasive. When chopped in two by a boat propeller, each hydrilla fragment can sprout, making it difﬁcult and expensive to control. Hydrilla Hunt cards are being distributed by Michigan Lake & Stream Associations, Inc. and Michigan Sea Grant. To order cards, contact Michigan Sea Grant at (734) 764-1118, email [email protected] or see www.miseagrant.umich.edu/pubs

10 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 Aquatic Invasive Species MICHIGAN SEA GRANT Awareness Week

Governor Jennifer Granholm has proclaimed June 7-13, 2004, as Aquatic Invasive Species Awareness Week in Michigan to encourage people to find ways to prevent the spread and introduction of aquatic invasive species Sea Lamprey contact us in our waters. Michigan Sea Grant (www.miseagrant.umich.edu) is Since the 1800s, more than 160 aquatic dedicated to the protection and invasive species (AIS) have been sustainable use of Great Lakes and coastal resources. Michigan introduced into the Great Lakes basin Sea Grant provides Great Lakes from around the world. These non-native science-based information and plants and animals threaten the diversity technical assistance to residents or abundance of native species and upset and communities in coastal ecological stability. They also threaten regions around Michigan. commercial, agricultural and recreational activities. Upper Peninsula: Ron Kinnunen email: [email protected] Some examples of AIS in Michigan include (906) 226-3687 zebra mussels, round goby, Eurasian ruffe, Eurasian Watermilfoil Northeast: Brandon Schroeder purple loosestrife, fishhook flea and sea [email protected] lamprey. During AIS Awareness Week an (989) 984-1056 outreach campaign will focus on hydrilla, a potential invasive species, and efforts Northwest: Mark Breederland to prevent its introduction into Michigan email: [email protected] (213) 922-4628 waters. Southeast Urban: Steve Stewart AIS awareness week is an opportunity to email: [email protected] learn about aquatic invasive species, their (586) 469-7431 Round Goby impacts, as well as what you can do to Southwest: Chuck Pistis prevent their introduction and spread in email: [email protected] your local area and throughout the state. (616) 846-8250

Associate: Mike Klepinger Resources email: [email protected] (517) 353-5508 Michigan Sea Grant is one of many partners teaming up to promote AIS Eurasian Ruffe GLERL: Rochelle Sturtevant awareness week and related activities. [email protected] For more information see: (734) 741-2287 www.miseagrant.umich.edu/ans Michigan State University 334 Natural Resources Bldg. Michigan residents can help by following East Lansing, MI 48824-1222 good invasive species prevention practices (517) 353-9568 when moving watercraft or other water University of Michigan recreation gear from one body of water 401 E. Liberty, Suite 330 to another. For more information see: Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2298 www.protectyourwaters.net (734) 763-1437

Great Lakes Invasive Species Workshops Fishhook Flea are scheduled June 7-8, 2004 in Illustrations by Michigan Sea Grant’s Muskegon, Michigan. For more Dave Brenner higlight the problem of information contact Kevin Walters AIS for younger audiences. at [email protected].

upwellings Volume 27 | No. 2 | June 2004 MICHIGAN SEA GRANT www.miseagrant.umich.edu 11 GREAT LAKES NEWS FROM MICHIGAN SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM

MICHU-04-801

Non-Proﬁt Organization U.S. Postage Michigan Sea Grant College Program PAID 401 E. Liberty, Suite 330 Ann Arbor, MI Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2298 Permit No. 144