Information for Primary and High Schools
What are the SOS talks about?
The Science of the Surf is a fascinating, entertaining and multiple award winning visual multi-media presentation about how our beaches work and behave; from the journey of tiny little sand grains onto your favourite beach, to the massive swell that rolls in during big storms, to how to spot a deadly rip current - this talk is for anyone who loves and is interested in the beach. It also has a beach safety theme throughout.
Topics covered include (depending on the audience):
- How our favourite beaches formed
- Where does all that lovely sand come from?
- Wave formation and types
- Dangerous, safe and freak waves
- Tides and tsunami
- Storms, sea-level rise and coastal management issues
- Beach erosion
- Rip currents – what are they, how to spot them and what to do if caught in one
- Types of Beaches
- And much, much more…
The visually powerful presentation is given by Dr Rob Brander, Australia's best known surf scientist from the University of New South Wales who has been nicknamed 'Dr Rip' for his habit of throwing purple dye into rip currents.
He is the author of 'Dr Rip's Essential Beach Book; everything you wanted to know about surf, sand and rips' and his work on rip currents was recently shown on Channel 9's 60 Minutes.
The talk runs for approximately 1 hour with additional time for questions. Some of the talks in beach venues involve a rip current demonstration using purple dye.
