​Smart Beach team to test warning system at Station Beach, Kincardine, in the summer

In its third and final year, the Smart Beach program will see the implementation and testing of a warning system at Station Beach, Kincardine, during the summer of 2024.

That was part of the update presented to Kincardine council, by Dr. Chris Houser, at the meeting, Dec. 13.

Houser outlined the work already done in the past two years of this pilot project, noting that one of the most surprising results is that people will be cautious if the water looks dangerous, but can be influenced by others to enter the water. And people stated that they would go in the water even if lifeguard were not present.

He said the warning signs at Station Beach are generally ignored by beach-users. The signs are not sufficient, and the ones at the piers are not facing the right direction for people to read.

“Signs need to be accurate and locally specific,” he said, indicating a proper sign that states “Stay Alive – Avoid Piers. Danger Zone – No Swimming.”

As for warning flags, Houser said that if a lifeguard posts a red flag, meaning the water is too dangerous for swimming, people will ignore the warnings if they believe the lifeguard's assessment of the hazard is too restrictive.

“The beach could be posted as dangerous but people see others in the water so they think it’s safe,” he said.

Houser calls this confirmation bias – beach-users make decisions based on others, not on the warnings.

“We need to educate the public,” he said. “The warnings are there for a reason, and you have to be confident in them.”

He said a problem at Station Beach is that there are numerous accesses to the beach, and beach-users assume that access to the beach means it must be safe.

Also, a survey of beach-users indicates that non-local, occasional visitors like to swim closer to the piers than non-local, frequent visitors and locals. This leads to the same confidence bias, said Houser, meaning beach-users develop increasing confidence in their decisions.

He outlined the major beach safety issues at Station Beach:
 

• Combination of bathymetric and structural rips, plus strong surf
• Seasonal and storm-dependent hazard
• Spatially variable hazard on same beach
• Inconsistent and invisible signage
• Access guides behaviour toward no-swim zone
• Safety is dependent on social norms and design nudges

Houser said the plan for this summer is to implement and test a dynamic flag system (red, yellow and green) to protect beach-users at Station Beach. In addition, the Smart Beach team will continue the modelling of weather and off-shore wave data to in-shore wave and current conditions; do predictive modelling of wave and current conditions based on all possible combinations of wind and wave conditions (with Georgian College); and do a crowd-sourced assessment of in-shore wave and current conditions in support of the warning system.

Councillor Mike Hinchberger asked if the monitoring is adequate south of the south pier and north of the north pier, to represent conditions on both sides.

Houser said his team is monitoring the wave action for both piers, including a model for the north and side sides.

“Thank you, Dr. Houser, for your update,” said mayor Kenneth Craig. “We will be interested to see how this all shakes out and the updated data.”