(NewsNation) — Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned Sunday after he was caught in a rip current at a Costa Rica beach.
Warner was helped by the people who were already at Playa Cocles, but “was declared without vital signs by personnel from the Costa Rican Red Cross,” according to Costa Rican officials.
What you need to know about rip currents
Surf beach lifeguards rescue approximately 80% of people a year because of rip currents, according to the United States Lifesaving Association.
Rip currents are channelized currents of water that flow away from shore at surf beaches, according to the USLA. They can vary in size, from very narrow to over 50 yards wide, and can form at breaks in sandbars or near jetties and piers.
The current pulls people away from the shore, rather than pulling them underwater, the USLA says.
Don’t swim against a rip current
According to the USLA, it’s important to relax if you’re ever caught in a current and not swim against it, as it’s possible to escape from one if you swim in a direction following the shoreline, or toward breaking waves, then at an angle toward the beach.
USLA advises beachgoers to swim in an area where there are a lot of lifeguards and to consult them before entering the water.
More than 100 rip current deaths occur every year in the U.S., according to the Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences.
Warner was on a family vacation at the time of his death. He was 54.