The full moon Spring tide on 6 January could create dangerous conditions for beachgoers, the National Sea Rescue Institute has cautioned.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said, “Bathers and shoreline anglers around the coast will notice that from today the high tide will gradually get higher than normal and low tide will gradually retreat to lower than normal.”
Lambinon said this would lead up to the peak of the full moon Spring tide on January 6 – “a full moon micro moon*”.
He said people swimming on the coast and shoreline anglers should be aware of the full moon (and new moon) Spring tides so as not to be caught off guard.
“Rip currents can be stronger in places during a Spring tide,” Lambinon said. “We are appealing to coastal bathers and shoreline anglers to be cautious and bathers should only swim at beaches protected by lifeguards, swim in between the safe swimming areas lifeguards post using their red and yellow flags.”
Full moon micro moon
The Moon orbits Earth in an elliptical path, so one side of the path is closer to the Earth than the other. The point in the Moon’s orbit closest to Earth is called perigee. The point farthest from Earth is known as apogee. The average distance between Earth and the Moon is 382,500 kilometres. When a Full Moon or New Moon occurs at the apogee, it’s called a micro moon. – Source: timeanddate.com
*The first paragraph originally read: “The combination of the full moon and spring tide” and has been edited to correct this.
