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Update July 25: Nearly a year on since the first update just below, the question is back after several were pulled from Hunting Island waters by other beach goers.

The substance of the discussion remains much unchanged though The Island Packet's report published today offers more depth as to why the park does not have lifeguards (a lack of applicants in the late '90s and early '00s) and what the park is doing as a stopgap. 

Read the paper's report here.

All that said, it seems more than likely (given our state's continuing job woes) that if those same jobs were offered today, the park would have a much easier time filling positions. 

Do you know someone that would work as a lifeguard for $8 or $9 an hour?

First reporting September 8, 2010: After 31-year-old Joseph Scott became the second drowning at Hunting Island's beach this summer, WTOC 11 took the chance to ask why doesn't the four-mile long state park have life guards?

There's a video report you can watch over here.

Rather striking that the reason lifeguards were removed in 1998 was that job applicants were too sparse.