Things to know about dangerous rip currents and how swimmers caught in one can escape

By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Stinging jellyfish, rays with their whip-like tails and sharks on the hunt are some ocean hazards that might typically worry beachgoers. But rip currents are the greatest danger and account for the most beach rescues every year. Officials say six people drowned in rip currents over a recent two-day period in Florida, including a couple vacationing on Hutchinson Island from Pennsylvania with their six children and three young men on a Panhandle holiday from Alabama. About 100 people drown from rip currents along U.S. beaches each year. That is according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association. And more than 80 percent of beach rescues annually involve rip currents.