A surfer died after being pulled from the water unconscious near Surfrider Beach in Malibu as Hurricane Marie kicked up 7-foot waves and a high-surf advisory was in effect Tuesday, officials said.
The incident happened at 11:20 a.m. near the Malibu Pier. The man, who was in his 50s, was unconscious when he was rescued from the water near the legendary pointbreak of Surfrider Beach.
"He was found unconscious," said Los Angeles County Lifeguard Capt. Tim McNulty. "I don't know if he suffered some sort of trauma or had some kind of medical issue."
Earlier Tuesday, lifeguards responded to a swimmer-in-distress call in Palos Verdes. Rescuers pulled the swimmer out of the water and he was walking.
A big south swell coming from Baja California and stirred up from Hurricane Marie had been picking up through the day Tuesday, sending waves up to 2 feet overhead along some south-facing beaches in Southern California, forecasters said.
The big waves raised fears of flooding and powerful rip currents through Friday and created "extremely dangerous" conditions for swimmers and surfers, forecasters said.
The surf was expected to peak Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday, then slowly diminish but remain strong enough to meet high surf advisory criteria through Friday, the National Weather Service reported.
An NWS high surf advisory was posted from 10 a.m. today to 6 p.m. Friday in L.A. County.
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McNulty said he hasn't seen an uptick in rescues on Tuesday, mostly because the beach crowds have thinned out due to school being back in session.
The news comes as several beaches along the Palos Verdes Peninsula, about 30 miles south of downtown LA, were expected to be closed until Friday because of big waves.