Dangerous Waves Pound Beaches

Dangerously massive waves stirred by Hurricane Marie drew in thousands of spectators and beachgoers to Pacific Palisades’ shoreline Wednesday, Aug. 27.

Standing atop the sand at Will Rogers State Beach, Los Angeles County Lifeguard Cheri Ellington kept a close watch on the beachgoers, many of whom included families with children.

“We have had waves as high as 14 to 15 feet,” said Ellington, a 37-year veteran on the job, as she vigilantly watched two children play near the water.

Ellington said the waves have been the largest of the year.

She, like the other 12 to 15 lifeguards on duty at Will Rogers State Beach, was under orders to prevent people from going in the ocean past “knee high,” she said.
The particular shape of this beach makes it very dangerous when the waves are this high because of the “shorepound,” Ellington said.

Shorepound is a term often used by surfers for waves that break right on the beach.

If somebody gets caught, “they’ll have nowhere to go” but the shore, she said, gesturing to a wave crashing on the beach.

The day before, a surfer, who was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, was found unresponsive floating in the water just a few miles north in Malibu, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities indicated large waves generated by Hurricane Marie, which was downgraded to a tropical storm by Friday, may have played a part in the tragedy.
South-facing beaches were the most affected by the high surf, which had subdued by late Friday.
A 27-year-old man was also pulled from the high surf at Venice Beach on Thursday, Aug. 28, but paramedics were able to restart his pulse, Erik Scott of the Los Angeles County Fire Department told City News Service.
On Thursday alone, Los Angeles County Lifeguards made more than 110 rescues by 2 p.m., according to City News Service.
But the thought of drowning was the last thing on the minds of Venice local Daniel Pelkey and Andy Stevens of Oxnard as the two surfers stood over the sandstone rocks at Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway watching the waves.
Stevens said he did see some jet ski rescues closer to Oxnard but overall nothing major. He had started his journey near Neptune’s Net.
While the two had just met, they were both travelling down the coast and catching waves individually.
“This is the best it’s been all year,” Pelkey said, adding that the waves were much larger in Zuma Beach and Point Dume in Malibu.
“They peaked between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” he said.

“This is the best of the year, but it won’t be the last,” Pelkey added.
“There is still hope. There is still El Niño.”