COQUINA BEACH – If you head to Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, you may be surprised to find something entirely different than the lifeguard towers you’re used to seeing on American beaches.
For decades, there has been little change to the traditional lifeguard tower. A simple structure elevated around 14 feet from the beach surface with an observation deck and a couple of windows overlooking the beachfront on which the guard or guards inside are tasked with keeping safe. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Baywatch, that’s pretty much the industry standard in the United States. A good view of beachgoers, a place to store lifesaving gear, and a bit of shade for lifeguards.
After recently being invited to tour lifeguard tower #9 on Coquina Beach, it’s evident the 21st century has made its mark on beach safety. This is not a 14-foot observation post. Instead, the tower rises more than 25 feet above the white sand of Coquina Beach and features technology that not only makes the beach safer but also more efficient.
Manatee County Beach Patrol Chief Joe Westerman was on hand to discuss what makes this beach state of the art in terms of safety and technology.
“Each one of our new lifeguard towers has a public address (PA) system that will make announcements to the entire beach,” Westerman said, explaining how the PA system makes the beach safer for the public. The system can send messages to entire zones such as all of Cortez Beach or all of Coquina Beach. It can also send individual messages from each lifeguard tower independently. This is useful for announcing dangers in the immediate area, such as rip currents or dangerous marine life.
Five prerecorded messages can be played at the push of a button. These include a welcome to the beach message, rip currents, missing or lost child, lightning, and a message letting beachgoers know the lifeguards are leaving for the day. Beach officials can also get on the system live and make any necessary announcement as a situation arises. Westerman said this has been very effective in reuniting lost children that have wandered away from their families to be quickly reunited. Any beach official can simply get on their handheld radio and connect to the towers and call for the parents.
Anyone who’s spent a summer in southwest Florida knows that lightning is an almost daily event, and this area is often referred to as the lightning capital of America. Storms will suddenly pop up on a beautiful sunny summer day and offer little time for beachgoers to pack up and leave the beach before heavy rain and extreme lightning begin. Simply put; lightning is dangerous. Knowing the seriousness of lightning strikes on the Island, the new lifeguard towers have been equipped with lightning suppression systems.
“It blocks the area of lightning, to not be able to strike. It breaks up the ions between the cloud and the ground.” Said Westerman, pointing to the top of the tower’s flagpole where the suppressors are located. Incredibly, each one of these has a 300-meter range on the large towers. That’s three football field lengths in every direction from each tower. The smaller lifeguard towers have a smaller unit mounted that still offers an impressive 25-meter range of protection.
“It’s based off a Tesla concept,” said Westerman, who stressed the importance of not only protecting the public but also the guards. Lifeguards stay on duty during inclement weather and are subject to risks involved with serious summer lightning storms that can see hundreds of strikes during a single meteorological event.
Regardless of this new technology, Westerman said nothing is a guarantee. The weather will always surprise us and often doesn’t follow the rules. If you are on the beach and severe weather is coming, get off the beach and seek shelter indoors. While safety nets are great, nobody would recommend you rely on them to continue your day as if nothing were happening. “If the thunder roars, stay indoors” is a great reminder of just how serious Florida storms can be. If you can hear thunder, you can be struck by lightning, even if it seems to be miles off in the distance. A few simple precautions will ensure many more days on the sunny beaches of Anna Maria Island.
