rip currents

To try and avoid any further injury or tragedy in the Jersey Shore beach season upon us, it is absolutely imperative you follow all the rules and listen to the lifeguards.

If you're caught in a rip current in the ocean at the Jersey Shore, one beach safety expert says don't panic, float, and swim parallel to the beach.

This was a weekend we were warned about. In fact, I was planning to take my girls swimming but decided not to because the warnings really ramped up. The rip currents became deadly and rescue teams could not keep up.

Opal, a Jersey Shore dog, had a near-death experience when she got caught in a rip current while just wading in shallow water at the beach in Spring Lake with her human Mama. This is a lesson for us all about the danger of rips. Jodi (from Freehold) has now written a story from her precious dog' perspective to share with hospices, nursing homes, and all of you:

BEach SAFEly. Get it?

Last evening my son and I went for a run on the boardwalk around 7 p.m. Aside from the high winds, massive waves, churning ocean, and flooding that came right up to the boardwalk, we saw three girls do something really stupid.

To help locals enjoy some swimming at the Jersey Shore, lifeguards will be on duty during September weekends at Island Beach State Park.

As you probably heard, several fishermen recently had an encounter with a Great White Shark 30 miles off the coast of Manasquan and that shark enjoyed a bag of chum before taking off. Here's the good and bad news about what you need to fear in our ocean:

Don Walsh is a frequent Friday morning guest on our Asbury Park Boardwalk shows.

A man paragliding in the waters hovering the Keansburg beach needed to be airlifted to the hospital after an accident on Wednesday.

For the second time this week Seaside Heights, Seaside Park and Lavallette water rescue teams were called to a beach in SSH to make a rescue from swimmers getting caught in rip currents.

Late August... and some Jersey shore lifeguards have left for school or a regular job. But it's prime time during the hurricane season, and the rip current risk has been heightened as a storm churns through the Atlantic.