Two die after wave sweeps them off rocks and out to sea, California rescuers say

Two people died after a wave swept them off the rocks and out to sea, California fire officials said.

Several bystanders called 911 the evening of July 16 after seeing the pair “swept off the rocks” at West Cliff Drive near David Way, according to a Santa Cruz Fire Department incident report shared to Facebook.

The department said it, along with multiple agencies, arrived to search the water and spotted the pair “floating face down in the ocean.”

Rescue swimmers entered the water and brought the two to an awaiting Harbor Patrol Rescue Boat, officials said.

Rescuers provided the two with “advanced life support measures” as the boat made its way to the harbor, according to officials.

Though crews continued rescue efforts once the pair arrived at the harbor, fire officials said they could not be revived.

In a July 17 email to McClatchy News, Ashley Keehn, public information officer with the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, said the county coroner’s office is working to identify the pair and notify family.

Fire officials warned visitors “to never turn your back on the ocean and be aware of tidal conditions.”

“Certain southerly swells and rising tides can produce ‘sneaker waves,’” the fire department said.

Sneaker waves can be deadly when they catch beachgoers off guard, as they “surge further up the beach than expected, overtaking the unaware,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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