The Santa Cruz surf community is in mourning as word spread that the surfer killed by a shark Saturday, May 9, 2020 at Manresa State Beach in Santa Cruz County was 26-year-old Ben Kelly, owner of Ben Kelly Surfboards, according to a story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
On Saturday, Gabe McKenna, public safety superintendent with California State Parks, said a person flagged down a lifeguard patrolling the area to report the attack. . . The water 1 mile south and 1 mile north of the attack will be closed for five days, until Thursday.
This is the first fatal shark attack in California since October 23, 2012 when a surfer at Surf Beach in Santa Barbara County was killed by a Great White shark.
[Link: Santa Cruz Sentinel]