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Facebook
![Ben Kelly († 26) died on Saturday in his favorite pastime.]()
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Ben Kelly († 26) died on Saturday in his favorite pastime.
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Ben Kelly surfboards
![The Californian was the victim of a shark attack.]()
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The Californian was the victim of a shark attack.
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KTVU
![Police during rescue operations on Manresa State Beach near Santa Cruz, California.]()
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Police during rescue operations on Manresa State Beach near Santa Cruz, California.
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Twitter
![The State Park, where the disaster occurred, was closed for five days. People are warned to avoid the area altogether.]()
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The State Park, where the disaster occurred, was closed for five days. People are warned to avoid the area altogether.
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Twitter
![Kelly with his wife Katie.]()
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Kelly with his wife Katie.
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The married surfer just wanted to ride a few waves in Santa Cruz, California. According to witnesses, the enthusiastic surfer, who also ran his own “Ben Kelly Surfboards” shop, grabbed his board on Saturday afternoon and did a few laps off the coast.
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According to the police, the accident occurred around 100 meters from Manresa State Beach in Monteray Bay. An emergency call came in at 1:30 p.m. local time. All help came too late for wave rider Kelly. He died of his serious injuries on the spot.
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Great white sharks are often seen in the coastal area before summer. According to local media reports, a photographer claims to have discovered 15 sharks in the same area on the day of Kelly’s death.
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First fatality from shark attack in years
The authorities have closed the park where the accident occurred for five days. Park officials warn people to avoid the entire area. Additional signs have been placed at the beach entrances and access points warning beach visitors of shark attacks.
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Saturday’s incident was the third fatal shark attack off Northern California since 1984. Kelly is the first fatality from a California shark attack since 2012.
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Raymond Silver, who films sharks in the area with drones for his YouTube channel, told local media that he and colleagues had spotted more than three dozen sharks in the area over several days.
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Probably killed by a cub
When he took drone pictures a few days ago, he saw a man in a kayak and a couple swimming on the beach. He ran over to the couple and wrote to the man in the kayak to get out of the water immediately.
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The couple was about knee deep in the water, a shark was so close to them. Silver: “They said they knew there were sharks, but they thought they were somewhere else where they normally go.”
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Silver suspects that Kelly was attacked by a cub. They usually hunt along the coast before they grow up and move out into the open ocean.
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Here is a drone video shot by Silver on April 30th – filmed in the same area where Kelly died:
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