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Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project video discusses dangerous currents, drowning survival tips

Lake Michigan
Posted at 2:53 PM, Jul 05, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-05 14:53:14-04

LAKE MICHIGAN — The Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project is warning of dangerous surf conditions at Lake Michigan beaches Monday afternoon and evening, with waves building to three to six feet in some areas.

Waves are expected to peak from 4 p.m. until sunset from St. Joseph to Manistee, according to the National Weather Service. The highest waves are expected between St. Joseph and Holland.

Earlier this summer, the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project released an explainer video about dangerous currents and drownings.

“This educational video is the first of its kind to explain how, where and why dangerous currents occur on the Great Lakes,” GLSRP Executive Director Dave Benjamin said. “It also shows how to utilize the ‘flip, float and follow’ drowning survival strategy in each dangerous current. Drowning is a traumatic event and panic is the first stage of drowning.”

Benjamin says that’s because a drowning victim’s first instinct is to survive, which only exhausts them into the vertical drowning posture, submerging in less than 60 seconds.

SEE MORE: Slight increase in Lake Michigan drownings in 2021