Santa Cruz area lifeguards seeing increase in water rescues

Lifeguards in Santa Cruz County are seeing a huge increase in the number of water rescues this summer. The last week of July had been particularly busy when a beach warning was issued. During a typical summer month like July, Harbor police would see between 3-5 rescues. This month, they’ve seen 20.

Life’s not always a beach in Santa Cruz County. A good time on the water can turn tragic in minutes if people aren’t careful. An uptick in water rescues could be attributed to warmer weather, the higher tide, even more people coming over from the Bay Area.

The summer swell saw waves as high as seven feet. On Thursday night, six surfers needed help getting out of the water. A near drowning nearly killed a 15 year old boy on Wednesday, if it wasn’t for alert beach goers who found him in the water. He is ok now.

“We had some conditions out here that would rival that of wintertime conditions,” said Matt Arthur, owner of Capitola Beach Company.

Those swells forced the owner of Capitola Beach Company to cancel lessons.

“The last swell seemed to be a little bit bigger in some senses,” Arthur said. “So much so we ended up canceling some lessons we had, just for safety reasons.”

Parents of younger surfers said they appreciated the fact they took safety into account. Harbor police also want beach goers to be safe, saying if people do go out, to be ocean aware. Look at the current conditions and pay attention to the tide.

While rescue efforts save lives, they also use resources that may be needed elsewhere.

“It’s typing up the fire department,” said Santa Cruz Harbor Police Sgt. Don Kinnamon. “It’s tying up the harbor police. We send a boat out with usually two or three people. The Coast Guard is notified. They’re sending people out. Usually local law enforcement is going on the scene too.”

It’s not just swimmers and surfers who need to be on the lookout. Because of the drought, people who used to boat on lakes are now boating in the ocean. That means boaters inexperienced with ocean conditions. Harbor police say those boaters need to take extra precautions.