The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that almost 4,000 people die from drowning each year in the United States. That figure does not break out ocean swimming from recreational and residential pools but does note that most ocean drownings occur at beaches where lifeguards were not present (in comparison, you have a less than one in 18 million chance of drowning at a lifeguarded beach).
But no matter where it occurs, drowning is one of the top causes of unintentional deaths. The ocean is vast and unpredictable, and even normal conditions can suddenly shift into life-threatening situations.
Ocean waves are particularly dangerous. A study by the Delaware Sea Grant College Program and Beebe Medical Center noted that there are more injuries from ocean waves than reported or even previously suspected.
The study, conducted over three summers, reported more than 1,100 injuries were caused by ocean waves and required a visit to the local emergency rooms. Most of them were sprains and strains, with the most common injuries caused by being knocked over. These included dislocated shoulders, broken collarbones, ankle and knee sprains, and neck pain.
But the reported injuries also included broken bones, neck fractures and three deaths. All of them happened in relatively shallow water, an area between where waves break and the shoreline. Waves roll in and slam the unwary into the sand, resulting in injury. Remarkably, most happened in less than two feet of water, an area where small children typically frolic and adults may let down their guard, thinking that they’re too near to shore for anything dramatic to happen.