The four young survivors of a night spent floating on Port Phillip Bay have told how they never lost hope, despite barely being able to swim. The teenage paddleboarders drifted more than 20 kilometers, before landing on a military base in the dark of night.

UNSW Sydney Surf Scientist Professor Rob Brander says people aren’t swimming between the flags at beaches and subsequently drowning due to them wanting to swim closer to accommodation and have quieter beaches.

“When a lot of people go on holiday at the North or South coast, a lot of the beaches they’re staying at are completely unpatrolled,” Mr Brander told Sky News Australia.

“We have to give them more than – swim between the flags.

“This concept called the think line, that if you go to a beach, any beach whether it’s patrolled or not you need to stop and think when you hit the beach and you think about safety.”