MARQUETTE -- There are 60,000 water rescues in the United States every year, and 80 percent of those are due to rip currents.
After four drownings in Marquette last summer, the Waterfront Safety Task Force is listening to suggestions about how to make the water safer.
Local artist and inventor Earl Senchuck gave a presentation Tuesday night on his rip current sensor and warning system.
The device works by detecting rip currents in the water with a sensor and sending a signal to an alarm system on the beach. But Senchuck says there are still questions that need to be answered before the device can be implemented.
"What are our parameters of expense? How do we design the actual device for water, because what we had shown tonight is not the actual sensor we're going to use in the water," said Senchuck.
The task force is interested in learning more about the device after those questions and others are answered.
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