Investigators Study Surfer’s Death

A 30-year-old surfer died last weekend after he apparently suffered a seizure while sitting on his board off the Manhattan Beach coast, lifeguards said.

Lt. Wally Millican said Kenneth Hull, a resident of Manhattan Beach, was spotted Sunday morning sitting on his board beyond the surf line. Sometime later, at about 11 a.m., several surfers and a lifeguard noticed an unattended board in the water with the man’s body floating nearby. Hull was pronounced dead on arrival at South Bay Hospital after lifeguards’ efforts to resuscitate him failed. The cause of his death is being investigated by the coroner’s office.

All five suspected drownings in Los Angeles County this year have occurred in South Bay waters, according to lifeguards. Hull was the first to die off the beaches. The others were three fishermen off the Palos Verdes Peninsula on a single weekend in February, and another person off Catalina Island in January.