Deep Dive: An Interview with Jamie MacMahan

Episode Notes

2.14.26: Jamie McMahan, a leading researcher whose work focuses on how people experience and survive rip currents in real-world ocean conditions.

Jamie is a professor of oceanography at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His research has helped reshape how scientists, lifeguards, and safety professionals understand rip currents not just as physical ocean processes, but as human survival events.

With coastal drowning remaining a critical issue worldwide and here in Hawaiʻi this conversation is especially timely.

We explore what research tells us about how rip currents actually work, why traditional safety messaging sometimes fails in real conditions, and how new, evidence-based approaches can better help both locals and visitors respond effectively when they find themselves caught in a rip current.

Rip-current science is solid. The challenge is human behavior and communication.Effective prevention depends on clear, location-specific messaging, early education, visual demonstration, and close collaboration between scientists and lifeguards.

He has volunteered to meet with guards online to discuss all the technical questions they may have about rip currents.

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