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Join Ocean Today host Symone Barkley and safety expert Bruckner Chase as they survey hidden hazards in a bay or harbor where there are jetties and piers, strong currents and no lifeguards nearby. Watch to learn tips you can use to stay safe in the water and have fun.
SYMONE BARKLEY: Today, Bruckner and I are starting our beach and bay safe conversation in downtown Baltimore, at the inner harbor.
BRUCKNER CHASE: Symone, it is great to be here. I'm a big fan of the show, and now we get to do one together.
SYMONE BARKLEY: Yes.
BRUCKNER CHASE: So, a lot of times, if you're looking at how to be beach and bay safe at your favorite water, that journey starts closer to home and often, in waterfronts really close to home, like Baltimore's inner harbor. A lot of the hazards and dangers that we're going to talk about at the beach, our film crew saw while they walked around the inner harbor. We've got jettys and piers, we've got strong currents, we got areas that aren't safe for swimming, and we've got no lifeguards nearby. If you look around, you can see ladders and life brings to help someone if they do fall in and get into trouble, but we want to make sure that doesn't happen, because if you fall in or go in, you're not only putting yourself at risk, you're putting others at risk, as well. You've had a lot of experience of people wanting to get in the water in places like these, but it's not a good thing to do.
SYMONE BARKLEY: Yeah, it's not a good option, honestly. There are no signs posted that say, swim area, or that let people know that it's OK to swim here. There are no signs posted, I wouldn't enter the water. Also, the tide changes within a few hours here, and you might be in an area where the water is deeper, and then end up going into an area where it's more shallow, that's not safe at all.
BRUCKNER CHASE: Absolutely not.
