Rips not sharks the real beach danger, warns academic

A surf scientist has warned swimmers to take extra care to swim between the flags this summer.

Of the 799 rescues to take place in Queensland since September, 643 of them occurred outside of flags. A total of 530 were the result of rips.

Coastal geomorphologist Dr Rob Brander has warned 9NEWS that many are inadvertently screening out the century-old message.

"It does become background noise," he told 9NEWS.

"Macho men" and tourists are the major groups of swimmers to drown in Australian waters.

Surf Lifesaving Queensland is campaigning for tourism operators to help spread safety awareness through their new red and yellow flag campaign.

"It's been 20 years since I've been working on (the campaign) and it certainly hasn't got through like we'd like to, if tourism operators can help us," Surf Lifesaving Queensland Chief Operating Officer George Hill said.

"We can't put a pool fence right along the coastline of Queensland, so we've got to educate."

Queensland has a total of 760 accessible beaches, however only 84 are patrolled with red and yellow flags.