In a day that included a tragic loss of life off Eastern Point, and countless rescue efforts by police, firefighters and Coast Guard personnel, there was another chilling bit of news Wednesday afternoon:
Some Gloucester beachgoers were reacting, in the words of one city official, "belligerently" toward lifeguards who were understandably telling them to stay out of the water in the face of dangerous riptides.
Look, folks. It shouldn't even take an incident like Wednesday's Gonzaga Retreat tragedy to remind us of the ocean's awesome and, yes, sometimes deadly power.
City officials continue to have a "safety plan" in place, with police and other personnel backing up lifeguards with beach safety patrols. But they shouldn't even need to do that.
If trained lifeguards tell you there are dangerous riptides and it's not safe to swim, listen to them and do what they say. It's for your own safety and can literally be a matter of life and death.
