Around Australia's coast line are many Great White sharks. They don't want to eat people, they just mistake them for other animals such as seals. Many surfers have been attacked because the shark hunts below and, when it looks up it sees a shape that looks like a seal. Click here to watch a video about great white sharks.

A riptide is a kind of water that returns back to the ocean very quickly. In the picture on the left, the dark blue water is the riptide. If a swimmer gets caught he/she will be dragged out to the ocean. At a beach there are usually two flags to tell people where it is safe to swim. An Australian prime minister once was caught in a rip and drowned.

Jellyfish are dangerous because of their tentacles, which have venom that will sting you. Some people use vinegar to stop the stinging of jellyfish.

As Australians love to spend so much time under the hot sun trying to get a suntan, they end up getting sunburned. This leads to skin cancer and some moles on the skin are prone to becoming cancerous.

These are some of the reasons why in Australia, we have Lifesavers. They will take a boat into the waves and rescue you from drowning. Click here to watch a video about rescuing a drowning person.