Knowing the characteristics of the water

I have heard and read of accidents of campers in the water particularly in the river. Is is mostly caused by their ignorance of the water. An actual accident 2 years ago in a river resulted in the death of 7 college students who didn't know that the river water would surge once in a while. In another occasion, a tv personality died of drowning in the sea when the small boat he was riding on capsized. He was not wearing a life vest. Those accidents could have been avoided if the victims knew of the water's characteristics.

 

Well this is probably way underrated, but I would hope that people learn this pretty quickly, as I am sure they do if they are on the water a lot. Of course this is easier said than done because with rivers things can change pretty quickly, especially when close to larger bodies.