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Rip Currents
Two and a half years ago a particular drowning at Holland State Park caused Robert Ortman to write a letter to the editor about the lack of lifeguards and other safety measures at the park. From this the Holland State Park Safety Commission was formed and Robert started to investigate the causes of drownings.
Rescues
A particular problem to rescues at Holland State Park is the length of time to respond. If a swimmer is in distress, the sheriff either has to drive down Ottawa Beach Road or take the boat out the channel. The Coast Guard responds with their helicopter from Traverse City in 20 minutes, which is usually too late. Robert would like to see the state park have drone(s) and trained personnel to fly it. The drone could either be used to observe whether assistance was needed or drop a rescue device.
Prevention
While Robert was researching drownings, he noticed that almost all of the drownings at Holland State Park occurred at the same location and with similar weather conditions. He started flying his drones and video recording the currents under the conditions when drownings occur most. He showed videos from different years with currents forming in the same way. The currents curl back toward the beach from the pier and meet currents coming from the north. This causes what are called harbor influenced rip currents. Current measuring devices were placed underwater this summer to provide long term measurements. These devices have just been removed and the data will be downloaded and analyzed in a few weeks.
Rip currents can form when there isn't a harbor close by. Robert showed us some videos of Grand Haven State Park beach. The rip currents may form there because of the sand channels. Robert speculates there might be sand that is more easily pushed around and forms channels. He is going to do some more investigation on this phenomenon.
Another dangerous occurrence on Lake Michigan is a meteotsunami. This is a very long wave that is caused by air pressure differences. In Lake Michigan they are usually only 2-4 feet high, but the great length of the wave causes a problem for swimmers.