The body of a surfer was found at Moonlight Beach, one of the most popular beaches in Encinitas, CA located in North County San Diego on Wednesday afternoon. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, it appears as if the young man had drowned.
Lifeguards apparently spotted a surfboard floating in the water without its rider, prompting a search that turned up the man’s body a few hundred yards away, according to Anita Pupping, Encinitas’ fire marshal and a spokeswoman for the Fire Department. The body appeared that it “had been there for a while,” Pupping said.
The victim was thought to be a man in his late 20s or early 30s.
The biggest hazard to surfers is drowning, particularly due to rip currents. Australia, one of the most popular countries in the world for surfing, averages 21 deaths per year from rip currents. A more famous but less common hazard is shark attack. While over 100 shark attacks on humans are recorded every year, these are not surfing-specific statistics, and the majority of these attacks are not on surfers.
Accidental drownings at surf beaches average 2.38 surfers per 100,000 surfers. These numbers are specific to tourists and visitors; locals to surf beaches have a lower drowning rate of 0.28 per 100,000.
Through 31st July this year, there had been 55 surfing-related deaths, compared to 105 in 2018, 113 in 2017, and 108 in 2016.
