Transient rip currents transport material between the surf zone and the inner shelf. During directionally spread wave conditions, waves break in finite-length regions, generating vorticity near crest ends. Energy associated with the injected vorticity may be transferred to larger scale eddies that eject offshore as transient rip currents. However, our understanding of these processes is limited, partially due to the challenges of isolating and measuring them in the field. To overcome this, we conducted large-scale wave basin experiments. We found that increasing the directional spread results in more crest ends that inject vorticity. Also, the along-crest gradient in breaking force varies from crest to crest and with the wave conditions, as assessed using remotely sensed water surface elevation maps. Lastly, by employing optically derived surface velocities, the surfzone flow fields for directionally spread waves are consistent with an inverse energy cascade from small to larger scale eddies.
