Respect the Water: Coastal deaths hit five-year high

The RNLI is warning people to Respect The Water as coastal deaths hit a five-year high.

168 people lost their lives at UK coasts in 2015, the highest figure for five years, according to coastal fatality figures1 released today by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

The RNLI’s UK lifeboat crews and lifeguards also saved 385 lives2 last year in near-fatal incidents.

These figures mark the launch of the third year of “Respect The Water”, the charity’s national drowning prevention campaign which aims to halve accidental coastal deaths by 2024.

The campaign's primary target is adult men, who accounted for 84% of coastal deaths in 2015, up from 75% from 2011-2014.

Surprisingly, over half the people who die at the coast each year never intend to enter the sea. 52% of the 2015 deaths were from people coastal walking, running, climbing and angling.

Phil Bindon’s son Mike drowned in 2014, aged 23, after being swept into the sea by a freak wave at Polzeath in Cornwall. Three lifeboats and a helicopter searched for hours but Mike’s body was never found.

Phil and his daughters, Katie and Jenny, are sharing their tragic story. They are joined by double Olympic gold medalist rower James Cracknell, who last summer saved a grandfather and grandson from drowning at Croyde beach.

In addition to the sheer power and unpredictability of waves, the main dangers they and the RNLI are warning of are the effect of the cold water shock – even in the summer our sea rarely rises above 12oc - unseen rip currents, and falls from cliff edges and rocks.

In this video Phil Blindon talks about losing his son to a coastal death, and RNLI members talk about the importance of safety when in coastal areas.

Find out more about the RNLI's Respect the Water campaign here.