Swimmers refusing warnings to stay out of the ocean

🏖 There have been multiple water rescues on unguarded beaches
🏖 One NJ town vows to arrest people who refuse to come out of the water
🏖 Why 'swim at your own risk' should be the policy

With the first hurricane of the season approaching, many shore officials worry Erin could turn deadly even if the storm remains well off the coast of New Jersey.

New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow says the latest storm track keeps Erin's center several hundred miles southeast of New Jersey, but her influence will still be felt.

"Any time a powerful storm like Erin passes between the U.S. mainland and Bermuda, it pushes out massive swell and surge — always a recipe for dangerous rough surf along the Jersey Shore," Zarrow warned. "There will be no mistaking the angry seas next week, with up to 10-foot waves battering New Jersey's beaches."

There have been multiple rescues in recent days due to people getting caught in the rough surf and rip currents. Partly because the water didn't look dangerous.

"The ocean looked calm but its pull was surprisingly strong due to a persistent on-shore breeze," Zarrow explained.

Lifeguards are trained to identify rip currents and other dangers in the water, and will warn people away when conditions are not safe. Far too few heed those warnings.

Ignoring the warnings

A teenager and an older man were reported in distress Thursday night off the 23rd Street Beach in South Seaside Park. By the time rescue crews got there, they had managed to make it safely back to shore, officials said.

On Monday, six bathers had to be rescued off the Webster Avenue Beach in Seaside Heights. A 31-year-old Trenton man died after being pulled from the water.

In both of these recent cases, lifeguards had gone home for the day.

The ocean is a dangerous place. Even when the sea is calm, bathers can get into trouble.

We have been told since we were children to stay out of the water if there is no lifeguard present. Signs dot the shore with the same warning.

Still, people ignore the rules and swim anyway.

What can be done?

You can say the beach is closed and the water is off limits when lifeguards go home, but if someone really wants to go for a swim there is very little you can do to stop it.

After Monday's drowning, Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz said he was closing his town's beaches at 5 p.m. if the surf is rough. Vaz told New Jersey 101.5 that he has ordered extra police to patrol the beaches in an effort to keep people out of the water.

"If they don't listen they will get a ticket," Vaz said. "And if they don't listen after that, they'll get arrested."

You can't legislate common sense

It is understandable why mayors and other local officials are trying to keep their towns safe. No one wants to see their town on the news for a tragedy.

But it just seems like a total waste of resources to divert police from patrolling a town to write tickets to people stupid enough to go into a dangerous ocean.

You can put up all the signs you want and fly red flags every 10 feet. There will be some who assume those rules don't apply to them. Police can't patrol every entry point to the ocean. If someone refuses to come out of the water, are they expected to go into the surf and drag them out?

Actions have consequences, and if you go into the ocean off an unguarded beach, there should be no expectation that you will be rescued if you get into trouble.

That is just common sense. And that is what seems to be in very short supply these days.

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